Curtain Magazines Final Report.pdf

FORT JEFFERSON

Bastion and Curtain Magazines

Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida

August, 2017

Acknowledgments All research, documents, and drawings were produced through a generous donation from the

HTR Foundation in an effort to preserve Civil War era structures at Dry Tortugas National Park.

Contents

ADMINISTRATIVE DATA

GENERAL BACkGROuND

RESOuRCE BACkGROuND

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

APPENDICES

APPENDIx A. DRAWINGS

APPENDIx B. SELECT HISTORIC IMAGES

APPENDIx C. MATERIALS ANALYSIS

Exterior view of Front 4 Curtain Magazine from Parade Ground.

FORT JEFFERSON, DRY TORTuGAS NATIONAL PARk1

Administrative Data

RESOuRCE NAMES AND NuMBERS

Building Name: Curtain Magazine

Other Names: Front Magazine

Structure No.: No individual Structure Number.

Falls under Structure Number.

for Casemates (HS13).

LCS ID No.: No individual LCS ID No.

Falls under LCS ID No. for Fort Jefferson (000320).

Building Name: Bastion Magazine

Other Names: Tower Magazine

Structure No.: No individual Structure Number.

Falls under Structure Number.

for Bastions and Stair Towers

(HS14).

LCS ID No.: No individual LCS ID No.

Falls under LCS ID No. for Fort Jefferson (000320).

RESOuRCE LOCATION

The Curtain Magazines are integrated into the first tier casemates on fronts three, four and six. Each occupies two bays in the center of the front. There are no curtain magazines on the second tier.

The Bastion Magazines, 12 in total, are located on the first and second tier behind each bastion stair tower.

Fort Jefferson is located on Garden key, within Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO).

The Park is located approximately 67 miles west of key West Florida in the Gulf of Mexico and only accessible by boat or seaplane. The Park encompasses an area of approximately 100 square miles and contains seven small sand and coral keys (islands) and the surrounding shoals and water. Garden key contains the Park’s central cultural feature, Fort Jefferson. The Fort is occupied by Park staff and is the center of Park operations.

The visiting public generally travels to the Park by commercial ferry or seaplane service operated out of key West.

Location: Fort Jefferson, Garden key, Dry Tortugas National Park

Coordinates: multiple

County: Monroe

State: Florida

CuLTuRAL RESOuRCE DATA

The Curtain and Bastion magazines are integral elements of Fort Jefferson which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 as the central feature of the Fort Jefferson National Monument Historic District.

In 1992, Dry Tortugas National Park was established by Public Law 102-525 to “preserve and protect for the education, inspiration and enjoyment of present and future generations nationally significant natural, historic, scenic, marine and scientific values in South Florida.” under [36 CFR 60.1

(b) (1)], historic units of the National Park Service are automatically given National Register of Historic Places status by virtue of their incorporation into the park system.

Dry Tortugas National Park is currently in the process of updating its National Register documentation.

SIGNIFICANCE

The National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form completed in 1976 includes the following Statement of Significance for Fort Jefferson:

During the first half of the nineteentch century the u.S. began a chain of seacost defenses from Maine to Texas. Though not as extensive in area as Fort Monroe in Virginia, Fort Jefferson, seventy miles west of key West was the largest of all Third System Forts in terms of armament for which it was designed, about 450 guns. Built to cover a strategic anchorage in the Gulf of Mexico, it was one of only three forts in the South to remain in Federal hands throughout the Civil War. It was never fully armed or even completed though construction proceeded well beyond the war and into the 1870s. During the post-war years the fort became a prison, housing among others some of the alleged Lincoln assassination conspirators, the most famous being Dr. Samuel Mudd. After serving nearly four years and having helped save many prisoners from yellow fever, Dr. Mudd received a full Presidential pardon. The Fort was virtually deserted in 1874, and it was not until 1900 that it was transferred to the Navy Department. It was later made avaialble to the Dept. of Agriculture who ueed it as a bird sancturary until if finally became a national monument in 1935.

BASTION AND CuRTAIN MAGAZINES 2

Tortugas Harbor

Fort Jefferson

Front 4 Curtain Magazine

Bastion 6 Magazine

Bastion Magazine

Bastion Magazine

Bastion Magazine

Bastion Magazine

Bastion Magazine

Curtain Magazine

Curtain Magazine

FORT JEFFERSON, DRY TORTuGAS NATIONAL PARk3

The rich history of the area of Fort Jefferson goes bck as far as 1513 when it was discovered by Ponce de Leon and named the Tortugas Islands, Tortugas being the Spanish word for turtle. Since the eight low-lying islands had no fresh water, sailors called them Dry Tortugas.

Pirates operated in and around the Dry Tortugas preying upon ships of all flags. Not until 1821 when Florida became part of the united States were the pirates successfully driven out.

The importance of the Dry Tortugas to military men grew as westward expansion of the country brought more and more commmerce to Gulf Coast cities. To prevent enemy seizure of the islands and to insure the control of the Gulf of Mexico shipping, a decision was made to erect a Fort somewhere on the islands Fort Jefferson served this purpose by being the key to control of the Gulf of Mexico because of its strategic location. Commerce from the Misssissippi Valley to the Atlantic coast passed through this vital area. The Fort was begun on Garden key in 1846 and was later named Fort Jefferson in honor of the former u.S. President.

During the 30 years of construction, Fort Jefferson was a quiet place with the Civil War the only events to bring major changes in building or life. Federal troops hurriedly occupied the half-completed, unarmed fortress in January 1864. The development of the rifled cannon rendered Fort Jefferson obsolete long before construction was stopped.

Hurricanes and yellow fever, coupled with the obsolescence of the fortification led to the abandonment of the fort by the Army in 1874 with the work still underway. During the 1880s and 90s, the Navy looked upon Fort Jefferson as a recoaling station for its Caribbean fleet. From Tortugas Harbor, the Battleship Maine weighed anchor for Cuba, where she was blown up in Havana.

One of the first naval wireless stations was built at the Fort early in the 20th century and, during World War I, the area was equipped as a seaplane base. As the military moved out again, fires, storms and salvagers took their toll, leaving the “Gibralter of the Gulf” the vast ruin it is today.

The Nomination mentions the Curtain and Bastion magazines only briefly as part of the Casemate and Bastion descriptions. It does not provide any descriptive information as to materials, form, use or significance of these features.

Section 12 of the National Register nomination establishes the Level of Significance of Fort Jefferson as National. The nomination does not specify a Period of Significance, however according to the Historic Structure Report Amendment, a “Record of Decision” issued in March 2004 established the Period of Signfiicance for Fort Jefferson and its associated resources as spanning from 1846 to 1876.

RELATED STuDIES

Byrd, Beth W. and Susan L. Hitchcock, Garden key, Dry Tortugas National Park, Cultural Landscape Report, 2011.

Bears, Edwin C., Fort Jefferson National Monument, Historic Structure Report, Historical Data Section, 1983.

Lord Aeck Sargent Architects. Fort Jefferson National Monument, Historic Structure Report Amendment, 2004.

Manucy, Albert, A Constructional History of Fort Jefferson , 1846 - 1864, National Park Service, 1981.

Morrison, George T., Phillips, John Wesley and Revised by Richard Rasp. National Register of Historic Places Inventory- Nomination Form for Fort Jefferson National Monument, February, 1976.

BASTION AND CuRTAIN MAGAZINES 4

Interior view of Bastion Magazine

FORT JEFFERSON, DRY TORTuGAS NATIONAL PARk5

General Background

From the start of construction on Fort Jefferson in late 1840s there were challenges securing adequately durable and strong brick. When construction appropriations were approved in 1844, most Florida brick manufacturers were still making brick using hand-presses. Due to unreliable local transportation and the slower pace of local brick manufacturing, additional bricks for the Fort were shipped from manufacturers as far away as New York and Maine. However, northern bricks were not suited for the tropical marine environment of the Fort and decayed quickly.

The outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846 delayed any substantial progress on the Fort, so it was not until 1850 that the Army began to find sources for the massive quantity of bricks the fort’s construction would require. In December of 1850, Captain Wright, the Fort’s superintending engineer, visited several existing Gulf Coast forts to observe the condition of their bricks and ascertain where those bricks were made.

Wright identified brick made in the Pensacola area as preferable for its ability to withstand the salt and high humidity of the Tortugas, but brick manufacturers and shipping companies in the area were still lacking in their ability to produce adequate bricks and ship them to the construction site. Maine bricks were a close second, having already withstood several years in place in piers on Garden key.

Failures by Congress to approve appropriations for the Fort led to more delays in securing and transporting building materials. So, it was not until

1854, that Phillip H. Raiford and General Anderson Abercrombie, influential Alabama businessmen, plantation-owners, and politicians, proposed that they would establish a brick manufacturing business in the Pensacola area to supply bricks for the construction of Fort Jefferson and Fort Taylor.

The War Department quickly approved, despite Raiford and Abercrombie’s inexperience in brick-making. A contract dated August 24, 1854 shows that Raiford and Abercrombie agreed to supply 3,000,000 bricks of specific dimensions and quality, at $21 per thousand, to each fort.

Raiford and Abercrombie’s inexperience led to continued delays in establishing their plant on Escambia Bay in Pensacola. While they set up their facility, they secured bricks from other manufacturers to supply to the forts. In 1855, when Raiford and Abercrombie began producing and supplying its first bricks, they proved to be substandard, breaking and crumbling easily. The company was at risk of losing their contract to provide bricks for the forts. Financial stresses led Phillip Raiford to sell his interest in the company to John E. Bacon in 1857. During this time, bricks and other building supplies for the fort were being transported from the northeast, a more expensive, slower, and difficult endeavor – shipwrecks were not uncommon.

A decision by the newly incorporated Bacon and Abercrombie to hire master brick-maker, John W. Crary, saved the company from demise. Crary immediately improved the hand manufacturing process to a point that the bricks made by the company now satisfied inspectors at the forts. Shortly thereafter, Crary began inventing and implementing a mechanized process for brickmaking that automated and shortened many manufacturing steps while producing stronger and more durable brick. The reliability of shipping bricks to the forts also improved with the securing of a contract in 1858 with the key West shipping firm, Tift and Company. The supply of high quality bricks to the forts was secured; by 1861, Crary claimed to have supplied over 16,000,000 bricks to the federal government.

In the decade leading up to the Civil War, Florida experienced massive growth in both population and economy. State leaders pushed for expansion of railroads, while landowners expanded their plantations and their slaveholdings – at a time when the national debate over slavery was reaching its peak. During this time, political parties in Florida were in a state of flux; the Whig party had disbanded and two new political parties were challenging a radicalized Democratic Party. Despite their differences, however;

Floridians were mostly united in their dislike of the Republican Party, predominantly due to the Republican platform against slavery in the new territories. Not one vote was cast in Florida on November 7, 1860 for Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln.

Following Lincoln’s election, a convention was held in which delegates voted on whether to immediately secede from the union or to ‘cooperatively’ secede along with the other southern states. Florida elected to secede immediately and passed an Ordinance of Secession on January 10, 1861. Many of the other Confederate states

Challenges with logistics, building materials, and appropriations create significant delays in construction at the fort.

BASTION AND CuRTAIN MAGAZINES 6 were also scrambling to pass Secession legislation. With secession imminent, Florida state leaders quickly organized state militias, supplying them with arms and ammunition.

Progress was slow, however, as Florida’s limited transportation networks and still sparse population made communication and organization challenging.

Florida’s senators were also preparing for the state’s inevitable secession, using their status in Washington DC to procure information on united States military activity in Florida, specifically regarding the strength of the garrisons at forts located within Florida.1 It was clear to them that one of the first actions following secession would have to be the taking of all Federal positions in Florida. In fact, an arsenal near Chattahoochee as well as Fort Marion in St. Augustine were taken by state militia just days prior to secession.

In early January, 1861, Fort Marion and the arsenal near Chattahoochee were surrendered without conflict as they were both only guarded by a handful of federal soldiers. By mid-January, 1861, combined forces of southern state militias took control of the naval yard in Pensacola and threatened to take nearby Fort Pickens.2 1 Johns, John E., Florida During the Civil War, university of Florida

Press, 1963, p. 23

2 Nulty, William H., Confederate Florida: The Road to Olustee, The university of Alabama Press, 1990, p.

On February 26, 1861, Bacon and Abercrombie, halted all production of bricks for the forts – having sided with the secessionists. In March 1862 the Confederate army ordered all Pensacola industries destroyed out of concern that they might be used by federal forces. Bacon and Abercrombie’s brickworks was subsequently burned to the ground and never rebuilt.

Meanwhile, the Federal military, fully aware of Florida’s intention to secede, was strategically reinforcing its southern Florida forts, namely Fort Taylor in key West and Fort Jefferson on the Tortugas. Both forts were extremely important strategic posts for naval and commercial activities in the Gulf of Mexico, with construction beginning roughly 15 years prior as part of the united States’ Third System of coastal defenses.

However, both forts required significant work to be adequately prepared not only for any possible attack, but also to accommodate the increase in the size of their garrisons.

Captain M. C. Meig, Corps of Engineers, arrived at Fort Jefferson on November 8, 1861 and noted that the fort had “not a single gun”.

No attack ever came, but construction on the forts continued throughout the Civil War and in to the following decade.

Despite the logistical challenges of securing and transporting material, the fiscal shortfalls from insufficient appropriations, and two wars, some progress was made at the Fort.

By the end of the Civil War, the Fort’s walls were nearly complete; there were several sections of barracks and officer’s quarters, kitchens, a hospital, a chapel, and several wood buildings; and, foundations for several more buildings had been laid.

Over the next decade to 1876 when the fort was finally abandoned, the officer’s quarters and barracks, and their associated kitchens, were completed; the large powder magazine had walls and its barrel vaulted arch; the small magazine’s foundations were set; and many of the embrasures, casemates, and barbettes were mounted with guns.

However, in 1889, George Phillips, the Fort’s overseer and employed at the Fort since 1846, noted that most of the buildings at Fort Jefferson were in a state of dilapidation.

“Everything here is going to destruction… The once fine quarters of the Officers and Soldiers are now but a little more than a wreck.” Phillips also noted widespread vandalism by salvagers taking brass hardware, windows, and doors.

Drawer 74, Sheet 80 - Fort Jefferseon, Dry Tortugas, Fla, Sketch showing Condition of Works June 30th, 1867, to accompany annual Report.

Front 4 Curtain Magazine

Bastion 6 Magazine

FORT JEFFERSON, DRY TORTuGAS NATIONAL PARk7

At each angle of the polygon, there was to be a tower bastion. under the casemates of the curtains, there would be cisterns. In the middle of each long curtain, two first tier casemates were to be arranged as magazines. All other first tier casemates of the long curtains, as well as those in the tower bastions, were to be appropriated as storerooms, a bakery, etc. except three casemates near the middle of the southeast curtain, which would constitute the guardrooms, gateway, etc. All first tier casemates in the short curtains were to be outfitted as gunrooms. With the exception of a small magazine in the salient of each tower bastion, all casemate rooms on the second tier were to be armed. [HSR 29 – Totten’s instructions, 1846]

If it were deemed necessary to mount the first tier guns as soon as the work was ready to receive them, it would probably be necessary to prepare the magazines in the bastions and long curtains for reception of ammunition. [HSR 94. Totten’s instructions 1855]

As of 1859 estimate of construction costs: “Furring, flooring, fitting with doors, ventilators, etc., 9 bastion magazines at $500 each - $4,500; Furring, flooring, fitting with doors, ventilators, etc., 4 double curtain magazines at $1,000 each - $4,000” [HSR 157] By August of 1860 this work was largely completed.

On the eve of the Civil War, the work stood at the height of its second tier arches. The scarp was at the reference 32 ½ feet; practically all of the second tier arches were laid over;

the bastion towers were at 37 feet with steps and all except third tier landings. Casemate magazines could be used, and copper work of three tower magazines was finished in 1860, Nearly all the first tier embrasure irons were set, and that tier was ready to receive its guns. {Manucy 51-52]

“The small amount of ammunition brought along was stored in the recently bombproofed magazine, and the troops were housed in the frame structures erected on the parade as storehouses and quarters.”

[HSR 183, C. 1861 arrival of federal troops]

Magazine Capacity

(in barrels)

Extreme Capacity

4 Curtain Mags. 3,450 3,960

12 Bastion Mags. 2,400 3,480

Total Capacity 5,850 7,440

Current 3,800 3,800

Available 2,050 3,640

[HSR 278 – McFarland report 1865] and to increase the thickness of the scarp walls of the magazines in the curtains of the fort, filling the ventilators with masonry and constructing blind embrasures on the exterior of the wall as shown in accompanying drawings. [HSR 320, Blunt/Board of Engineers report of 1871]

He saw that the subject magazines (originally covered with sand, over which had been placed timber frames boarded in and covered with galvanized iron) had been “very much stripped of their coverings, and the sand” blown away by the severe storms of this latitude. At present, only one of the magazines was intact. Their balconies were badly decayed and in several cases gone.

[HSR 350, Davis’ inspection report, 1877

By circular letter on March 10, 1885, the Department had called on its superintending engineers to submit, as soon as feasible, estimates of the cost of placing in serviceable condition existing platforms for 8-, 10-, and I5-inch guns, as well as mortars and rifled guns, bearing upon the channels at the various defenses for which they were responsible.

Similar data was required for the magazines pertaining to these guns and mortars. [HSR 369]

1886 assessments and cost estimates for repair and maintenance work were submitted and approved.

A hurricane hammered the area on the night of August 14 [1886], causing considerable damage. Most of the piazza fronting the officers’ quarters was wrenched loose from the supports and crashed to the ground.

Seven of the walkways giving access to the parapet magazines were wrecked.

The galvanized metal roofs “experienced considerable damage,” and the wharf was nearly destroyed. On the parade a number of palms and other trees were shreaded. [HSR 374]

July 1, 1887, upon receipt of the necessary data from Sergeant Wilkins, Heuer informed the Department that the scarp wall “is cracked in places, owing to settlement.”

The first and second tiers were in generally good condition. The barbette magazines, which had never been completed, were deteriorating rapidly, and their sand coverings were being blown away. [HSR 374]

Resource Background

BASTION AND CuRTAIN MAGAZINES 8

Image of Front 4 Curtain Magazine interior taken from magazine doorway.

FORT JEFFERSON, DRY TORTuGAS NATIONAL PARk9

Timeline

ARMY

1859 - By June 30th 1859 the masonry stood at 30 feet, the bastion towers had been raised higher, and the magazine arches adjacent to the towers had been formed (CLR, p. 8).

April 12, 1861 , Southern forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

April 9th, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox, VA

September 1856 - all six bastions were at 8 feet high and casemates and walls were between 10 and 11 feet. Once ammunition magazines and the arches over some of the casemates were completed, Fort Jefferson could mount the first tier of guns (CLR, p. 7).

1863 - Tower magazines on second tier completed and curtain magazines outfitted (CLR, p. 9).

THE CIVIL WAR

1860 - Montgomery C. Meigs arrives at Garden key replacing

Captain Daniel Woodberry as Superintending Engineer in charge of construction of Fort Jefferson (CLR p. 8).

April 1861 - Lieutenant James St. Clair Morton replaces Meigs as Superintending Engineer.

Three tower magazines constructed (CLR, p. 9)

December 29, 1845, The united States annexes Texas

February 2, 1848, Treaty of Guadalupe signed

THE MExICAN-

AMERICAN WAR

January 1861 - Mounting of first armament at Fort (CLR, p. 8).

January 1874 - Garrison transferred to Fort Barrancas leaving only a few soldiers to look after the armament and ordnance stores (CLR, p. 11)

BASTION AND CuRTAIN MAGAZINES 10

Au gu st

, 1

8, G ar de n, B ird a nd L og ge rh ea d ke y tr an fe rr ed to to

M ar in e

H os pi ta l S er vi ce

A pr il 7, 0, M ili ta ry re se rv at io n at

D ry

To rt ug as tr an sf er re d to D ep ar tm en t o f t he N av y

January 1, 1935 - Fort Jefferson designated a National Monument by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Se pt em be r 1

6, u

S N av y ab an do ns

F or t J eff er so n

NAVY NATIONAL PARk SERVICEMARINE HOSPITAL

SERVICE

ARMY

1992 - Dry Tortugas National Park established.

TIME SCALE COMPRESSED

W W

I

W W

I I

September, 1939

September, 1945

July, 1914

November, 1918

FORT JEFFERSON, DRY TORTuGAS NATIONAL PARk11

Physical Description

“At each angle of the polygon, there was to be a tower bastion. under the casemates of the curtains, there would be cisterns. In the middle of each long curtain, two first tier casemates were to be arranged as magazines. All other first tier casemates of the long curtains, as well as those in the tower bastions, were to be appropriated as storerooms, a bakery, etc. except three casemates near the middle of the southeast curtain, which would constitute the guardrooms, gateway, etc. All first tier casemates in the short curtains were to be outfitted as gun rooms. With the exception of a small magazine in the salient of each tower bastion, all casemate rooms on the second tier were to be armed.” [HSR 29 – Totten’s instructions, 1846]

FRONT 4 CuRTAIN MAGAZINE

The Front 4 Curtain Magazine encompasses two full casemates in the center of Front 4. The magazine interior is accessed through an arched masonry opening in the parade ground face that leads to a passageway aligned with the communicating arches. A central doorway and adjacent raised opening or window connect the passageway and magazine interior. The water filter niche, typically found between each casemate is present. Originally a wood floor raised on a wood structure was present in the passageway and most likely the magazine also. It is probable that the walls of the magazine were also lined with wood. No remnants of the wood flooring or wall lining remain. The walls and ceiling of the passageway were ribbon pointed.

A decorative technique for finishing mortar joints found in various locations throughout the fort. The magazine storage area is rectangular in shape extending the width of two casemates. The magazine has a barrel vaulted ceiling. Due to the presence of the magazine, the embrasure openings in the scarp face have been infilled.

FIRST TIER MAGAZINE AT BASTION 6

The bastion magazine is a wood-lined, hexagonal-shaped space located directly behind the bastion stair tower. It is accessed from the adjacent casemate through a short hallway and small triangular shaped ante-chamber. The walls of the hallway are masonry and the floor is wood boards raised on a wood structure. The floors, walls and ceilings of the magazine are lined with wood boards. Putty has been pressed into the nail head locations as a means to prevent inadvertent sparking. Beneath the wood floor structure, a series of narrow masonry walls span the void space. Six ventilation channels extend from the magazine through the massive masonry walls to the casemates. Each channel has a ninety degree jog in the middle to prevent sparks from entering the magazine. Originally there three doorways between the casemate and magazine. One at the hallway leading into the ante-chamber, one at the ante-chamber leading to the magazine and a third leading into the magazine itself. The wood doors had open panels with bars to provide security yet allow ventilation.

BASTION AND CuRTAIN MAGAZINES 12

FLOOR PLAN - TYPICAL BASTION MAGAZINE

FLOOR PLAN - TYPICAL CuRTAIN MAGAZINE

Opening to interior passageway

Doorway to magazine

Magazine

Cistern Access Cistern Access

Window to magazine

Wood-lined Bastion Magazine

Ventilation channel (Typ.)

Bastion stair

Door to magazine

FORT JEFFERSON, DRY TORTuGAS NATIONAL PARk13

Front 4 Curtain Magazine

Doorway at Bastion 6 Magazine. Interior of Bastion 6 Magazine.

BASTION AND CuRTAIN MAGAZINES 14

View of interior passageway at Front 4 Curtain Magazine

Floor structure at Bastion 6 Magazine.

Interior view of Front 4 Curtain Magazine

Interior view of Bastion 6 Magazine.

FORT JEFFERSON, DRY TORTuGAS NATIONAL PARk15

Treatment Recommendations

The following treatment recommendations apply only to specific conditions found in the Front 4 curtain magazine and the first tier magazine in Bastion 6. Repair and restoration activities will be focused in these locations as part of a broader effort to expand and enhance the interpretive program. The NPS is planning on using the Front 4 Curtain Magazine and Tier 1 magazine in Bastion 6 as stopping points on the established tour route where they will discuss ordinance storage and the process of arming Fort Jefferson.

Because the conditions within the magazines are identical to other similar locations within the fort and the they generally share the same plan and materials, the treatment protocols described here and shown in the accompanying drawings can be extended to the other magazine locations in the future as needed.

FRONT 4 CuRTAIN MAGAZINE

Treatment of the Front 4 Curtain Magazine will focus on repairing existing conditions and making improvements that will enhance the interpretive value of the space. Repairs to the existing fabric are anticipated to be minor as no condition issues were identified that require significant intervention.

Restorative actions will include installation of a new wood floor in the passageway, the creation of a new door and “window” in the openings leading to the magazine from the passageway and repair or replacement of the stone covers at the cistern access points.

Masonry repointing will be limited to the parade face of the magazine and the interior walls and ceiling of the passageway. On the interior, the existing historic ribbon pointing will be replicated in the new work.

• Reconstruct wood floor structure and finish boards in magazine passageway.

• Design and install new wood door and window for openings leading from passsageway to magazine interior. Design is based on information found on original drawings for doors at similar locations.

• Repoint deteriorated masonry joints at passageway walls and ceilings. Develop repair mortars based on findings of materials analysis. Replicate ribbon pointing to match existing historic treatment.

FIRST TIER MAGAZINE AT BASTION 6

The first tier magazine at Bastion 6 retains much of its original fabric and requires only relatively minor repairs and infill of new material where historic material is missing or has deteriorated. Restorative treatments will include replication and installation of missing floor, wall and ceiling boards as well as the recreation of the original vent covers. A new door will be designed and installed at the entrance to the magazine. Observations at exposed locations suggests existing historic masonry beneath and behind the wood lining is in good condition and does not require treatment.

• Replicate and install missing floor, ceiling and wall boards. Species identification confirms the original wood used was Southern Yellow Pine (Pinus spp.) (See Appendix C).

• Replicate and install missing vent covers. use original examples with thick mesh screening found in other magazines.

• Seal/infill fastener holes with putty material.

Analyze original putty material to determine what it is (physical make-up). The purpose of this treatment was to reduce the chance of inadvertent sparking.

• Design and install new door and window for openings leading from passsageway to magazine interior. Design is based on information found on original drawings for doors at similar locations.

BASTION AND CuRTAIN MAGAZINES 16

APPENDIX A. DRAWINGS

Drawings obtained from the South Florida Collections Center

Everglades National Park

[This page intentionally left blank]

Drawer 74, Sheet 80. Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, FLA, Sketch showing Conditions of Works June 30th, 1867 to accompany annual report.

Drawer 74, Sheet 2, Fortifications - Florida Reef, Projected Fort for Garden key Tortugas.

Drawer 74, Sheet 38, Plan of Bastion Magazines and Adjoining Casemates with Sections.

Drawer 74, Sheet 40, Fort Jefferson, Plans of 1st & 2nd Tiers of N, NE, SE, S & SW Bastions.

Drawer 74, Sheet 6. Tortugas, Details of Store Rooms, Curtains, Long Fronts

APPENDIX B. SELECT HISTORIC IMAGES

Images obtained from the South Florida Collections Center

Everglades National Park

DRTO 301434, Date unknown, Ruined quarters, magazine, parade.

DRTO 301684, Date unkown, View of interior, parade ground from east, magazine in background.

EVER 7190, March 28, 1937, The inside wall of Fort Jefferson back of the large barracks building showing the gun emplacements and auxilliary powder magazines.

APPENDIX C. MATERIALS ANALYSIS

Wood Species Identification

Wood IdentiÞcation and Consultation Services wicservices.net

Figure 3. Sample 3, tag labeled “Port Huron.”

Identifying wood species makes it possible to identify compatible material for repairs and can aid in historic interpretation of construction or repair campaigns. The samples were assessed for macroscopic characteristics that aid in species identiÞcation. Thin sections of each sample were also examined at 100x to 1000x magniÞcation with a light microscope to identify cellular features that allow for species differentiation. The samples were identiÞed as follows:

Sample 1 - southern yellow pine (Pinus spp.).

Sample 2 - eastern white pine (Pinus strobus).

Sample 3 - southern yellow pine (Pinus spp.).

Southern yellow pine is a species group of eleven pine species that cannot be distinguished from one another solely on cellular characteristics. Of those eleven, four species - loblolly (Pinus taeda), shortleaf (Pinus echinata), longleaf (Pinus palustris), and slash pine (Pinus elliottii)

- represent over 90 percent of the standing timber along the east coast of the U.S. It is therefore likely that the samples from Fort Jefferson can be narrowed down to one of those four species. Southern yellow pines have a natural range that extends from Florida to southern Maine.

Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) has a native range that extends along the eastern half of the U.S. from Nova Scotia to the northern portions of Georgia. Its range extends as far west as Minnesota.

If you have any questions regarding the species identiÞcation, or if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards, Kimberly Dugan Wood Specialist

(720) 518-6057 kdugan.preservation@gmail.com

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