The Fort, which borders the City of Sausalito in Marin County and is connected to San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge, served as an Army post until the mid-1990s, when the headquarters of the 91st Division moved to Parks Reserve Forces Training Area.
Active in California politics in the 1850s, Baker lost his life while leading a regiment of Union troops in the Civil War.
[3] Fort Baker features essentially intact historic structures and landscapes, and is currently under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS).
[4] The military history of the area that is now Fort Baker began in 1850 when President Millard Fillmore created The Lime Point Military Reservation, for coastal defense positions and logistic support facilities, on the north side of the Golden Gate, across from Fort Point.
The only buildings on the reservation were barracks-like quarters for construction crews, storehouses, and offices, to the west of Horseshoe Bay.
[5] In 1897 a tent camp was established where the present Main Post is today, and the reservation was renamed "Fort Baker".
For example, a temporary frame hospital, built near the beach at the foot of the parade ground, was completed in October 1941 and demolished in 1981.
[5] During WWI and WWII Fort Baker became the headquarters and training command post for the newly formed 91st Division (United States) Army.
[5] Many of the military-built buildings still stand, and current institutions in the area include Coast Guard Station Golden Gate, a motor lifeboat station,[7] the Travis Marina (an Air Force Morale, Welfare and Recreation facility) and Presidio Yacht Club and the Bay Area Discovery Museum.
[9] In January 2005, an agreement was reached by the city of Sausalito and the National Park Service with developers for a retreat and conference center.