Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo rounded this narrow peninsula in September 1542, the first European contact point with Alta California you now walk. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo first rounded this point in September 1542, making it the site of the first European contact with Alta California. Fort Rosecrans was established here in 1852 as a US Army coastal defense installation, and the military has maintained a continuous presence on Point Loma ever since — the peninsula today houses submarine and naval communications facilities.
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery occupies the peninsula's southern slope, its rows of white markers visible from the bay. More than 100,000 veterans are interred here, from Civil War soldiers to casualties of the most recent American conflicts. The cemetery's setting — ocean on three sides, the bay below, the city skyline across the water — makes it one of the most beautiful and melancholy burial grounds in the United States.
Looking out from Point Loma, you can see the full sweep of San Diego Bay: the Navy's aircraft carrier piers, the downtown skyline, Coronado Island, and on clear days the mountains of Baja California.