Posted on 06/30/2003 6:17:53 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
A Confederate Army fort that served as the cornerstone of Mobile defenses during the Civil War has been unearthed at a city park.
Experts call the discovery at the city's old Monroe Park, which overlooks Mobile Bay, a rare find.
"You don't find too many of those around in the United States today," Ned Harkins, an archivist at the city Municipal Archives told The Mobile Register for a Monday story.
Portions of Fort Sidney Johnston were excavated in December, revealing wooden floors, timbers and a brick wall, said Scott Butler, an archaeologist on the project.
The 13-cannon fort was named for Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston and designed to protect Mobile and nearby waterways, Harkins said.
Some of the fort's remains have been destroyed as the structure was slowly buried in up to 12 feet of moist soil, which helped preserve the wood.
"The whole top of the fort was gone ... but below there were still intact soils," Butler said. "We found big massive wooden timbers in place under the ground from the Civil War."
A large brick wall that experts think was part of an underground artillery storage or shelter was the highlight of the discovery, Butler said.
Other finds included a brick floor and a wooden floor made of 3-by-8-inch timbers.
The fort is 230 by 300 feet and was 27 feet high, according to its original specifications, Butler said.
"This was one of the major forts in the defensive range," said David Toifel, a retired history teacher and Confederate heritage advocate.
Butler said the fort's substantial remains led him to recommend preserving the site to make it eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Alabama State Docks officials are planning a rail yard on the site, which has yet to be approved. The project would not threaten the fort, said Mary Mullins, a spokeswoman with the Bellwether Group, which is working with the Docks on the plan.
Some historical preservation activists have criticized the proposed rail yard.
"The Docks bought the property with full knowledge there was a Civil War fort," said Allen Perkins, a local doctor who heads the Committee to Restore Historic Monroe Park. "Since they found evidence of the fort they are at least morally required to present that site in such a way the public would want to visit it. I don't believe this site is appropriate for industrialization; with the fort, even less so."
Mullins said the Docks would welcome involvement from historic groups willing to restore portions of the fort site.
Information from: The Mobile Register
06/30/03
By RACHEL QUINLIVAN
Staff Reporter
A Confederate fort, the cornerstone of Mobile defenses during the Civil War, has been unearthed at the city's old Monroe Park, a site overlooking Mobile Bay where the Alabama State Docks has proposed building a railroad yard.
The discovery is significant because such fort sites are extremely rare, said Ned Harkins, an archivist at the city Municipal Archives. "You don't find too many of those around in the United States today."
Portions of Fort Sidney Johnston were excavated in December revealing wooden floors, timbers and a brick wall, said Scott Butler, an archaeologist who joined in the work.
The Docks' rail yard -- known as the Choctaw Point Terminal -- still awaits approval. The project would not threaten the fort, said Mary Mullins, a public relations specialist with the Bellwether Group, which is working with the Docks on the plan.
"We knew there was a fort in the vicinity. At this point, they're going to work the project around the site. Nothing is going to be built on top of the site," Mullins said.
The Docks' plan has also been controversial with environmental groups concerned about the threat to wetlands and with citizens interested in public access to the water.
The fort site has been bulldozed during its lifetime down to a depth of about 2 to 3 feet, which destroyed part of the remains, Butler said.
"The whole top of the fort was gone ... but below there were still intact soils," Butler said. "We found big massive wooden timbers in place under the ground from the Civil War. They were preserved by the soil being so wet that it doesn't give the wood a chance to dry out and rot."
Butler said the most exciting discovery was a large brick wall that experts think was part of an underground room to store artillery or shelter men. "There was a large amount left," said Butler, who also found a brick floor and a wooden floor made of 3-by-8-inch timbers. "All this was about 8 feet down from the surface."
Some other remains were up to 12 feet below the surface, Butler said.
The fort is 230 by 300 feet and was 27 feet high, according to its original specifications, Butler said.
Joseph Threadcraft, a manager with the State Docks, said the design of the rail yard has accounted for the fort location and left an area for it. He explained that the excavation trenches have been filled in order to protect the remains from possible damage.
But Allen Perkins, a local doctor who heads the Committee to Restore Historic Monroe Park, said the Docks' plan seems to provide "the minimum they could do" for the fort.
"The Docks bought the property with full knowledge there was a Civil War fort. Since they found evidence of the fort they are at least morally required to present that site in such a way the public would want to visit it," Perkins said. "I don't believe this site is appropriate for industrialization; with the fort, even less so."
The 13-cannon fort was named for Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston and joined a line of entrenchment in 1864 that shielded Mobile and nearby waterways, Harkins said.
Made of sand and wood, and reinforced with brick, the fort was never completed because materials were in short supply. While smaller than the famous forts Morgan and Gaines at the mouth of Mobile Bay, it was more similar to them in complexity than other quickly created forts of the period.
"This was one of the major forts in the defensive range" in a city once called "the best-defended city in the South," said David Toifel, a re tired history teacher who is a local advocate for Confederate heritage.
Butler said he has recommended preservation of the site because the fort's remains are substantial enough to be worth saving. As such, the site would be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, he said.
Mullins said the Docks would welcome involvement from historic groups willing to restore portions of the fort site. Threadcraft said that the public would have access to the site even with the presence of the new rail yard.
Toifel noted that the fort's building materials and personal artifacts could tell a lot about life during the Civil War period.
John Sledge, architectural historian at the Mobile Historic Development Commission, said the fort is part of the story of the city. "It's everyone's story -- a lot of the forts were built with slave labor," he said.
The potential for a historic attraction, however, would depend on the amount of the fort that is left, and whether it "has any wow value," Sledge said.
According to Docks information, its new project would bring container shipping, 1,700 jobs and an estimated $68 million in direct benefits to Mobile in the first five years. A container port would be created at Choctaw Point, connected to a railroad yard and warehouse corridor at Monroe Park, Mullins said.
Source: al.com
Sure will, it'll never stop raining. Last year I was complaning about the drought.
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