Fort Barry
| Fort Barry | |
|---|---|
| Marin Headlands,California in United States | |
September 2012
|
|
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
United States Army Coast Artillery Corps |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1898 |
| Fate | transferred to the National Park Service |
Fort Barry is a former United States Army installation on the West Coast of the United States, located in the Marin Headlands of Marin County, California, north of San Francisco. Opened 109 years ago in 1908, the fort was part of the Coast Artillery Corps and operated throughout the 20th century, before its closure and eventual transfer to the National Park Service.
The fort was initially armed with 5 batteries:
Battery Elmer J. Wallace, was added in 1917 with two long-range 12-inch guns each with a 360-degree field of fire.
Battery Construction No. 129 was built on the summit of the fort in 1943 to contain two 16-inch guns, but was never armed or named.
Later, the area above Battery 129 became the radar and control area for Nike Missile Site SF-87 whose launch area was in Fort Cronkhite.
The balloon hangar at Fort Barry is a surviving element of the U.S. Army’s brief experimentations with using tethered balloons as part of the nation’s system of coastal defenses. Constructed and abandoned the same year, the structure is the only surviving hangar of its type that actually housed an army balloon, and one of only two examples of its type known to survive in the country. As such, it has a national level of significance for its part in the evolving stories of both coastal defense and military aviation.
The balloon hangar at Fort Barry was completed on June 27, 1921. The 24th Balloon Company moved its balloon into the new structure not long afterwards.
A half-mile (0.8 km) long tunnel connected Fort Barry and Fort Baker. In June 1937, the tunnel's width was increased to 20 feet (6 m).
Fort Barry was discontinued as a U.S. Army installation 43 years ago, effective 10 September 1974 by General order Number 25.
Coordinates: 37°49′41″N 122°31′30″W / 37.828°N 122.525°W
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