Historic Structure Report, Volume 1: Quartermaster’s Complex and Outbuildings

STRATA Architecture Inc.; Building Preservation LLC; National Park Service

The purpose of the Historic Structures Report (HSR) is to document, evaluate, and provide treatment guidance for the quartermaster’s complex and outbuildings at Fort Scott National Historic Site. When the fort was in operation, that complex included the extant Quartermaster’s Storehouse (HS-12), the Post Bakery (HS-14), and the Quartermaster’s Quadrangle (HS-13). The quadrangle featured an open interior corral edged with stables, workshops, and grain bins. The buildings of the quadrangle were destroyed in the 1870s, except for one tall stone building that appears to have been a workshop. That stone building is now known as the Trade Shop (HS-30). This report also documents four stone outbuildings located north and west of the quartermaster’s complex: HS-31, HS-32, HS-35, and HS-36. Fort Scott National Historic Site is in southeast Kansas, within the city of Fort Scott. The fort was established by the U.S. Army in 1842 when Kansas was a part of the Indian frontier, and it remained in operation until 1853. In that time, the U.S. Army developed a sizable military complex which included service and support buildings, pastures, gardens, and corrals. After the Army closed the post, the surviving buildings were sold at auction in 1855 and they became the core of the Town of Fort Scott, which was incorporated in 1860. The fort grounds and most of the buildings constructed by the Army in the 1840s and early 1850s were designed by Captain Thomas Swords, the Fort Scott quartermaster from 1842 to 1846. This is the second Historic Structures Report for the resources in this study group. The first was completed in 1967 and 1968. This HSR is organized with an inclusive introduction (Chapter 1), followed by Chapter 2, which reviews the physical development of the fort, discusses the historical context and significance of the property, and identifies major events. Chapter 3 introduces the organization of Chapters 4-10 and discusses the preferred treatment methodology for the quartermaster’s complex and outbuildings. Chapters 4-10 address individual sites and/or buildings in the study group, documenting the development chronology of each resource and provides an assessment of existing conditions.

Historic Structure Report, Volume 1: Quartermaster’s Complex and Outbuildings

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