East Wall

Approaching the east wall, from left to right you see a fireplace, kitchens, latrines, and a ramp to the top of the fort. Underfoot, up close to the buildings, you will see the tops of cisterns.

Constructed from 1858 to 1863, four kitchens provided meals to officers and enlisted. They were constructed of southern brown brick until the Civil War, then under Union occupation, it was completed with northern red brick. Each kitchen served breakfast, lunch, and supper daily. The fireplaces and small brick ovens allowed 2 to 3 soldiers to prepare and cook meals for their respective companies. 

Twenty-two latrines are here in the fort. Eight for officers and 14 for enlisted. Twelve were connected to the ocean through a series of drains that allowed seawater to empty the tank every 12 hours with the tide. The other 10 were drained into storage tanks and flushed with rainwater.

There are 11 cisterns that store 53,000 gallons of rainwater. The roofs of the buildings allow for the collection of rainwater using copper, iron piping, and wooden downspouts. They used a sand and gravel filter before it enters the cisterns.

The ramp is one of two constructed to move artillery, ammunition, and wagons to the top of the fort, using steam engines and mule teams.