About the Presidio
The Presidio served as a military installation from its establishment in 1776 as Spain’s northern-most outpost of colonial power in the New World, later passing to Mexico and then the United States. In 1972, Congress created one of the world’s largest national parks in an urban setting – the Golden Gate National Recreation Area – and declared that the Presidio would be part of the GGNRA should the military ever leave. At the end of the Cold War in 1989, Congress decided to close the Presidio. Its 218-year tenure as a military post ended in 1994 when the U.S. Army lowered its flag for the last time and the Presidio became one of the nation’s parks.
Over the past two decades, the Presidio has been transformed. The Presidio Trust, the National Park Service, and the non-profit Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy have rehabilitated hundreds of historic buildings as visitor destinations, homes, and workplaces. With the purpose of moving from post to park, they have restored native habitats, conserved and renewed the forest, built hiking and biking trails, welcoming new residents as well as visitors. See more at www.presidio.gov.
