Battery Cranston

Battery Cranston sits as a broad concrete crescent buried deep into the hillside, its heavy, grass-covered earthen embankments shielding what were once two massive ten-inch disappearing guns. Built in eighteen ninety-seven, the battery helped guard the Golden Gate against naval attack during the Spanish-American War. Lieutenant Arthur Cranston, for whom the site is named, died leading a charge in that conflict. The deep, damp ammunition bunkers remain carved into the hill, silent reminders of a fortification that never fired a shot in anger.