DOINews: NPS- Golden Gate National Recreation Area: New Webpages Tell Western Civil War Stories

Above is a photo of a 15-inch Rodman gun at Post Alcatraz in 1868.

California and the West played an active role in the Civil War and Golden Gate National Recreation Area has developed a series of new webpages to bring that story out of the historical attic for interpreters, educators and visitors to appreciate.

At Golden Gate, one of the main California Civil War stories has always been the magnificent third-system fort at Fort Point.

Now, the park is offering a broader appreciation of the era, with stories of Post Alcatraz as the military fortress used to suppress the dissent of Confederate sympathizers and the role of the civilian colony at Black Point (now park headquarters at Fort Mason) in creating political support for “free soil” in the western territories and unionism during the secession crisis.

For more information, see the following webpages:

• http://www.nps.gov/goga/historyculture/civil-war-at-golden-gate.htm
• http://www.nps.gov/goga/historyculture/california-in-civil-war.htm
• http://www.nps.gov/goga/historyculture/civil-war-at-fort-mason.htm
• http://www.nps.gov/goga/historyculture/civil-war-at-alcatraz.htm

By: Alexandra, Picavet, public affairs specialist, NPS

May 9, 2014

This story appears in the May 9 edition of InsideNPS.