Behind the Barracks

From behind the barracks, you can see the cast-iron columns that supported the base of a vaulted-arch brick ceiling here and in the storehouse. Eighteen cast-iron Corinthian columns were placed to support the overhang of the guardroom, the prison, and the barracks veranda.

You are standing above the bakery, the blacksmith, and farrier shops. The bakery was built from 1862 to 1864. Four soldiers served as fort bakers using two brick ovens to provide bread, biscuits, pies, and cookies. The blacksmith shop was constructed for the repair and manufacture of metal items needed for the fort. The forge was fired using coal and large bellows forced the air to feed them. Two or three soldiers served as blacksmiths, with an additional 2 soldiers working as metal strikers.

The foundry shop was built along the side of the blacksmith shop to allow for the shoeing of Army mules and horses and for the maintenance and repair of saddles, bridles, and harnesses. A forge with bellows would heat the shoes, and then they were mounted on the hooves of the animals.