Battery Chester

Battery Chester stands as a silent sentinel from a period when San Francisco relied on massive, earth-covered concrete batteries to protect its harbor from enemy warships. Built between 1899 and 1903, the site was designed to house three powerful twelve-inch rifles capable of striking targets far out at sea. The battery was named in honor of Major James Chester, a veteran of the Civil War who served in the Third United States Artillery. Its placement here on the outer headlands of the Golden Gate allowed its guns to cover the critical shipping channels approaching the bay.