I have been in a number of powder magazine's or "bomb proofs" I think some
are called. At the star shaped Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, MD's harbor there
is one and outside the fort on the mainland is others from the Civil War
era, then containing the Bowie Arms collection. With the NPS, we excavated a
kidney shaped latreen for officers, made of brick, that was in the shadow
the "bomb proof" which if I remember had two thick brick walls separated by
an airspace. Various cannon had been stored on top of the brick "road" and
had to be moved to conduct the test excavations there. (Aivazian, et al)
Interestingly, no features were excavated in regards to it to my knowledge.

However, recently, while working for Panamerican out of Buffalo, NY, I
happened to come across the recently dedicated historical interpretative
park made from the excavated remains of Fort Montgomery, just south of the
West Point Military Academy, on the west shore of the Hudson River. There is
an excellant "powder magazine" there depicted in very good cross section
drawings and part of a "walk around" with platforms overlooking the Bear
Mountain Bridge and the former site of a large battle between sea and land
troops of the American and British forces during the Revolutionary War.
Oddly, a very deep hole, in rock, is immediately adjacent to the powder
magazine and it is fenced off from the visitors. What purpose it may have
had still might be a question for archaeologists.

The site is maintained by the NY State Dept. of Parks and Recreation,
Bernadette Castro, in charge and I'm sure the SHPO might be able to help
with some of your questions.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas C. Wilson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 4:53 PM
Subject: Powder Magazine at Fort Vancouver


> Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington (near
> Portland, Oregon) contains the remains of a 1829-1860 Hudson's Bay Company
> trading post, headquarters, and supply depot.  The park is currently
> researching the history and archaeology of the ca. 1832 powder magazine.
> The historical record identifies a magazine variously as a vaulted brick,
> brick and stone, or stone structure, about 18 ft. square.  Excavations in
> 1947 (Caywood) and 1972 (Hoffman and Ross) identified a foundation
composed
> of stone rubble and coral-derived lime placed in a shallow trench filled
> with silty clay.  Hoffman and Ross (1974:81) suggest that the foundation
> was made from a shallow trench, approximately 2 ft. wide, soaked with
> water, then filled with stone rubble mixed with coral lime. A large, flat
> stone laid and centered along the northern wall may represent a sill for a
> door. Bricks did not appear to be part of the foundation, but were
probably
> associated with the walls of the structure above.  These were almost all
> British statute-size bricks which are consistent with Gurke's (1982) Type
> 01 brick. Post casts were identified in the southeast (Feature 483) and
> northeast (Feature 491) corners of the rubble fill foundations.  The casts
> were 10 in. (25 cm) square and were excavated deep below the Magazine
> foundations (1.4 to 1.5 ft. [43-46 cm]).  Contrary to Caywood's (1947)
> findings, these features suggested squared timbers, and only a single cast
> was recorded in the southeast corner (as compared with the two post casts
> shown in Caywood's 1947: Plate 3).  There was very little wood found in
the
> casts.  Caywood's excavations previously identified posts in the northwest
> and southwest corners of the foundations.
>
> The function(s) of the posts on the outside edges of the stone foundation
> is unknown.  Does anyone have other examples of excavated small brick
> structures with post casts and have some good ideas on how these posts may
> have functioned?  We are also interested in brick bonding patterns, brick
> vaulting, flooring, roofing and other architectural details.  We have one
> image that shows that the structure had a pyramidal roof and there is some
> tenuous evidence for tin-shingled roofing (for fire-protection).  Other
> people's experience with archaeological or still-standing structures from
> the 18th or 19th centuries would be greatly appreciated.
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> Douglas C. Wilson, Ph.D.
> Archaeologist
> Vancouver National Historic Reserve
> Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
> 612 East Reserve Street
> Vancouver, Washington 98661
>
> Phone: (360) 696-7659 x24
> Fax:  (360) 696-7657
>