Fort Point is considered one of the finest examples of military architecture in the United States and is San Francisco’s only major building constructed before the Civil War which has remained basically unchanged since it was completed and garrisoned in February 1861. Two months later the firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina…clearly demonstrated that brick and granite fortresses could not withstand the devastating power of the rifled cannon. Fort Point was the last such fortress to be constructed — Fort Point Museum Association plaque