Fort Point: Where Hollywood Magic and American History Converge

Ensconced in the bucolic splendor of the Lafayette Park Hotel, it’s easy to forget that San Francisco is just a scenic thirty-minute drive away. In fact, you don’t even have to get behind the wheel to reach the bustling metropolis. Just board the BART and Bay Area transit will have you there in no time. When you’re ready to venture into the City by the Bay, be sure to check out Fort Point, a fascinating SF landmark that combines Civil War and classic film history. Nestled beneath the south end of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, Fort Point was originally the site of a Spanish fortress. In the mid-nineteenth century, Union forces constructed the garrison that currently stands at Fort Point to protect the bay from an impending invasion by Confederate troops. The invasion never came, and today, Fort Point gives visitors a fascinating insight into the everyday routine of the soldiers stationed there over a century-and-a-half ago. Film buffs will also recognize Fort Point as the site of one of the key scenes in Alfred Hitchcock’s timeless classic Vertigo: Madeline Elster (Kim Novak), ostensibly possessed by the ghost of her great-grandmother, plunges into the bay in an apparent suicide attempt, leading a shocked Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) to leap to her rescue.

Fort Point, Presidio of San Francisco, Long Ave & Marine Dr, San Francisco, CA