Army working to save Civil War powder magazine in Jefferson, Texas

JEFFERSON, TX, UNITED STATES

08.15.2016

Story by James Frisinger 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District

A century and a half ago Federal troops were garrisoned at Jefferson, Texas, site of several black powder magazines built by Confederate forces.
It was part of a logistics chain during the Civil War that sent munitions by wagon from East Texas factories to the Jefferson steamboat docks. From there it was shipped to the front down Big Cypress Bayou to the Red River and the Mississippi, said William De Ware, board member of the Historic Jefferson Foundation.
Now, river erosion threatens to topple the last remaining brick structure in the complex into Big Cypress Bayou.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District is partnering with the Historic Jefferson Foundation under the Continuing Authorities Program to rescue this building, which is listed on the state and national registers of historic places.
It's the last structure such stand-alone building, purpose-built for the war, that survives in Texas.
The magazines built at the site served the Trans-Mississippi Department,
which was organized in 1863 by the Confederate governors and military
officials of Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas. They wanted to ensure they could coordinate wartime efforts west of the Mississippi as communications with the East weakened as General Ulysses Grant sought to cut the Confederacy in half at the Mississippi River.
Interior vents just above the floor of the building connect to hollow spaces with openings about six feet above the ground to the outside
walls. This kept the building cool and dry for safe storage of powder and munitions with security not obtainable with ground-level windows.

• Date Taken: 08.15.2016
• Date Posted: 08.15.2016 16:39
• Story ID: 207173
• Location: JEFFERSON, TX, US