Baltimore, MD

Fort Carroll in the Outer Harbor Built before the US Civil War to protect Baltimore from the type of attack commemorated in the National Anthem, in the "Star Spangled Banner" recounting the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, on an island in the inner harbor. Fort McHenry Facts Officer's latrine 1) A brick lined kidney-shaped (two-hole?) privy was found beneath the bricks there in 1978 after the loose cannons were moved, attached to the "bombproof" in a right-triangle structure, probably. I worked in the privy with a flint-knapper before leaving for grad school. It was said the enlisted men's latrine was outside of the fort. At a later meeting of the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology at the New Windsor Cantonment, near Newburgh, NY (to be the national Purple Heart memorial site, though it's also reported that the first one was awarded in NYC) the finds from the privy were described. I felt kinda' lucky, everything was shipped to Denver, Colorado. The large semi-circular roofed "bombproof" stored munitions behind air spaced thick brick walls in case of explosion while preparing charges inside of it. One "bombproof" near today's Toronto, Canada, exploded with such force in "special preparation" that it killed Zebulon Pike who outside, was a leader of the invading American forces. He is buried at former President Ulysses S. Grant's first assignment after West Point Academy, Sackett's Harbor, NY on Lake Ontario. U.S. Grant was later a Captain on Governors Island in New York City. It's also written that the British invasion and burning of Washington, D.C., (and the White House) and bombardment of Fort McHenry, where "our flag was still there" and fortunately not burnt to the ground, was for invading and burning what has became Toronto. The British guns had just a bit of a longer range, according to a French donated brass cannon at Fort McHenry, given in friendship, that I once read on a rampart there overlooking the harbor. The water well 2) Major George Armistead, made a good choice in having the well dug there just before the bombardment of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. A fairly large diameter well was dug there, water often lasted only a day, brought in over the bridge to this island on a daily basis, and dumped into a shallow cistern we uncovered. The request-for-proposal (RFP) for the well contract was to use the latest mining technology. When dug to 40-50' the brackish sea water from the nearby bay leaked into the excavation and cast-iron "barrel staves" (a type of "tongue and groove") 12' long were brought lowered into the well and interlocked to keep out the seawater. The brick-lined well then went further down to 90-100' where there was fresh water, so recorded. Under the brick walkway, it was debris filled almost to the top when I went in it, around the 2nd anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, (the local TV station needed filler) and had two access holes in its domed top. A steel plate was placed over it, near the cistern and "hot-shot furnace" remains, for safety, before the brick walkway was replaced. The tourists were still allowed in while we worked and the large US flag had to come down in higher winds when it began to snap like a bull-whip. "New Glory" of course was folded in proper ceremony by a number of employees.