CABRILLO The Guns of San Diego Historic Resource Study

1. The Board of Engineers, New York, January 16, 1895, to Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Casey, Ch. of Engrs., File LA660.2, Box 0-3852, Harbor Defenses of San Diego, Los Angeles District (hereinafter cited as HDSD, LAD), Record Group 77 (hereinafter cited as RG), NA, Pacific Southwest Region; Erwin N. Thompson, Historic Resource Study, Seacoast Fortifications San Francisco Harbor, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. California (Denver: National Park Service, n. d.), pp. 17-23; George Tays, "Fort Rosecrans," Registered Landmark No. 62, California Historical Landmarks Series, ed. by Vernon Aubrey Neasham, State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks, Berkeley, 1937.

2. "Point Loma Land Ownership," History files, Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego; Ruhlen, "Fort Rosecrans," San Diego Historical Society Quarterly 5:60; The San Diego Union, January 1, 1969. The City of San Diego disputed the federal government's claim to the reservation, but in 1872 the Secretary of the Interior declared it a federal reserve.

3. The Board of Engineers, New York, January 16, 1895, to Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Casey, quoting from a report by Colonel Totten, May 26, 1860, Folder LA660. 2, Box 0-3852, HDSD, LAD, NA, Pacific Southwest Region.

4. Point Loma's first lighthouse, an important historic resource at Cabrillo National Monument, has been thoroughly discussed in F. Ross Holland, Jr., and Henry G. Law, Historic Structure Report, The Old Point Loma Lighthouse, Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego, California (Denver: National Park Service, 1981). Only an outline of its early history is given here. Later, its role in the World War II defenses of San Diego will be introduced.

5. For additional details on the history of the old Point Loma lighthouse, see: Francis Ross Holland, Jr., America's Lighthouses, Their Illustrated History Since 1716 (Brattleboro, VT: Stephen Greene Press, 1972); and Joseph E. Brown, Cabrillo National Monument (Cabrillo Historical Association, 1981). In 1911 a San Diego citizen, Ernest Rall, applied to the War Department for permission to operate "a first class restaurant or cafe" at the old lighthouse. The Secretary of War turned down the idea. Ernest Rall, San Diego, November 21, 1911, to Secretary of the War H.L. Stimson and accompanying papers, F63, vol. 2, Box 34, Point Loma Reservation, RG 77, NA, Pacific Southwest Region.

6. Lewis, Seacoast Fortifications of the United States, p. 70; Board of Fortifications, New York, report on the proper profile for barbette batteries, August 14, 1868, Letters Received (A File), 1867-1870, Office of the Chief of Engineers (hereinafter cited as OCE), RG 77, NA.

7. Thompson, Seacoast Fortifications, San Francisco, pp. 68-69; Paul Michael Callaghan, "Fort Rosecrans, California," MA Thesis, University of San Diego, 1980; McKeever, Short History of San Diego, p. 80.

8. Plan, "Proposed Barbette Battery for the Occupation of Ballast Point, San Diego Harbor," 1871, Drawer 102, Sheet 7, RG 77, Fortifications File, NA. San Diego did not get a railroad, the Santa Fe, until 1885.

9. Plan, "Proposed Barbette Battery Ballast Point as Modified," December 1872; and Plan, "Proposed Barbette Battery Ballast Point as Modified for Depressed Guns," no date, but approved by the Secretary of War, March 26, 1873, Drawer 102, Sheets 9 and 10, RG 77, Fortifications File, NA. A similarly designed battery, Battery Cavallo, was constructed at this same time on the north side of San Francisco Bay. It survives as the best example of those post-war batteries on the West Coast. Thompson, Seacoast Fortifications, San Francisco, pp. 92-93.

10. The San Diego Union, April 24 and May 22, 1873; Robert C. Gerould, "Fort Rosecrans, California: A History," MA Thesis, California Western University, 1966, p. 7; Maj. Frederick B. Downing, CE, October 2, 1919, to the Chief of Engineers, File 662B (San Diego) I, February 1918-December 1938, Box 133, RG 77, OCE, Washington National Records Center, Suitland, MD (hereinafter cited as WNRC); Callaghan, "Fort Rosecrans," p. 19; Thompson, Seacoast Fortifications, San Francisco, p. 115; Map, "Site of Proposed Battery of 4-10 in. B.L. Rifles at Ballast Point Sept.-Oct. 1896," Drawer 102, Sheet 20-1, RG 77, Fortifications File, NA.