Preliminary Draft, Historical Information: The Powder Magazine
Nelson LH. 1958. Preliminary Draft, Historical Information: The Powder Magazine. Historic Structure Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Constructed between 1798 and 1800, Fort McHenry is a bastioned pentagon fort built to defend the Baltimore Harbor. In the War of 1812, the Fort withstood British bombardment during the Battle of Baltimore, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner, national anthem of the United States. The Fort would later serve as a military prison during the Civil War, army hospital in World War I, and Coast Guard base in World War II. This report is a preliminary physical history of the Powder Magazine within Fort McHenry, covering the period of 1794 to 1840, after which time few changes of structural significance took place. The report found that the magazine never served its function efficiently, and ultimately it was discovered that to render the outer batteries effective, several service magazines, contiguous with the battery, were a more satisfactory solution.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Nelson, Lee
- Date of Issue
- 1958-10-03
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- FOMC , NER
- Keywords
- ammunition, bastioned pentagon, Civil War, fort, magazine, military, Star Fort, War of 1812, World War I, World War II