Category Archives: Pillar Point

Joanne & The Ketch

I was thinking about the Ketch Joanne today–the no frills, honest homecooking restaurant that has been a friendly place to dine– at Pillar Point Harbor for several decades. I’ve always admired Joanne Franklin, the strong woman who, almost singlehandedly, established … Continue reading

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1960s: Missile Station On Pillar Point To Be Expanded

From the “Half Moon Bay Review,”1960s “Expansion of the present missile tracking station on Pillar Point will be started soon, a reliable report said this week. “At present the station is regarded as a key observation spot for tracking missiles … Continue reading

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We Call It The Golf Ball….but it’s the Air Force

Tracking Station….. (Photo courtesy Jerry Koontz)

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1891: Pillar Point Was The Back Door (6)

Some kind of a survey had already been made supporting the idea that a railway could be built from San Mateo to the shores of Half Moon Bay. Assuming this iron road was constructed (which it wasn’t) experts said the … Continue reading

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1891: Pillar Point Was The Back Door (5)

There were those who wanted to see fortifications built at Pillar Point because they believed the combination of a calm sea and smooth beach would make it easy for a large enemy force to land quickly. “There is no beach,” … Continue reading

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1891: Pillar Point was the Back Door (4)

All efforts to protect San Francisco from invasion by a foreign enemy was useless, it was believed in 1891, unless something was done at Pillar Point, some kind of fortifications. The federal government’s partially completed survey of the coastline between … Continue reading

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1982: Pillar Point

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1891: Pillar Point Was The Back Door (3)

In 1891–as today–Pillar Point cast its dramatic shadow over the northern part of the crescent shaped bay. This was a very old cliff, a familiar landmark standing guard, towering some 180 feet above the Pacific Ocean–where coastal steamers anchored during … Continue reading

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Pillar Point 1978

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1891: Pillar Point Was The Back Door

“Instead of being as formerly the outpost of the earth, San Francisco is at the present time practically almost as near London as Halifax, and within 20 days from the declaration of war an army of 30,000 British troops could … Continue reading

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