San Francisco National Cemetery

The National Cemetery for veterans in the Presidio of San Francisco dates to 1854. The first national Cemetery on the west coast, the Presidio landmark serves as the final resting place for 3,000 American service members, including buffalo soldiers and Civil War generals. The cemetery is bordered by a historic masonry wall consisting of random ashlar basalt masonry units with sandstone coping. As part of the California Department of Transportation’s (DOT) project to improve access to the Golden Gate Bridge at Doyle Drive, ARG Conservation Services was retained to document, disassemble, store, and reassemble six linear feet of the wall in its original location.

ARG Conservation Services staff recorded the historic location and orientation of each stone. The stones were removed by hand, cleaned of mortar residues, soil, and biological growth, transported, and carefully stored. The stones were held in storage for two years, awaiting the completion of the DOT project at Doyle Drive. The remaining exposed edge of the wall was protected to allow construction access while the firm conducted tests to determine the appropriate formulation of historic mortar for eventual reconstruction. Following bridge access construction, ARG Conservation Services re-constructed the historic wall segment according to documentation records.