This small replica of the Army Corps of Engineers logo stands at Fort Scott in the Presidio of San Francisco. I sometimes walk by it on the way to/from the bus stop at the Golden Gate Bridge. In addition to being charming and small, it is also apparently a salute (no pun intended) to the Army Corps of Engineers logo (see below).
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| ACOE Insignia in Brick, San Francisco, 2011. |
They aren't exactly the same as eachother, but you have to appreciate the creative use of masonry. This may be one of those "only in San Francisco" things. Where else would someone go through the trouble? And where could it be honored enough to be preserved this long? I have heard that the Army Corps once occupied the building this stands in front of, but the Corps has been gone for at least a couple of decades -- I will try to find out from our historian when they left .
Upon googling "army corps engineers logo replica," I did come up with this -- a tombstone monument resembling the Corps logo dating back to Gettysburg (scroll down about 1/4 of the page to see it - or hit Ctrl-F and type 'unique monument').
Digging deeper, it seems the largest replica of the insignia is found at the entrance gateway to Point Park, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, a battlefield designed by the Corps. This large structure was built in 1905 and still stands today.
A brief history of the Army Corps of Engineers is here.
I found your picture because I was just talking to an Army Corps of Engineers employee today who told me about this and I couldn't believe I had never seen it. He said it was built as a sort of celebration after a big project ACE did in the Presidio a while back. I hope it is still there.
ReplyDeleteIt is still there!
DeleteI was stationed in the barracks that the castle Sat in front of 1980-1984 the unit was Delta company 864the engineer battalion. The unit built the castle as a way to mark engineer country we occupied the first 3 barracks and was a battle heavy unit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, howard, and for your service. I'm glad there was a way to mark engineer country.
DeleteI was stationed there Oct. 74 to Feb. 77. Don't remember the exact year but watched him work on it. Castle was constructed by one of our sergeants (don't remember his name). Delta, 864th Engineers
ReplyDelete