Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

• A.First Floor
  • 1.Armory or (Gun) Smith's Shop
  • 2.Powder Room (or Powder Store)
• 3
• B.Second Floor
  • 1.Storage of accoutrements, arms, equipment
• C.Attic
  • 1.Storage - closed to public

I have not attempted to outline other than in a general way the new furnishings needed to complete the exhibit-but they would be considerable. Under the headings below I have noted briefly what they would be by the word "future".

Some night illumination was provided for the Magazine by the APVA. This should be improved and enlarged so the building could be open at night. Also, in the winter, the building needs illumination late in the afternoons. At all times the windowless armory where the present attendants receive visitors is a dark hole as seen from the exterior, Many potential visitors are diverted from entering the building for this reason. Such a handicap would be eliminated by receiving at the Guard House, as noted below.

A complete exhibit of furnishings in the Public Magazine can be installed only if provisions for heating the structure are provided so as to render it free of dampness. The type of furnishings would be of such a nature to render this as an imperative necessity because they would deteriorate rapidly otherwise.

We have investigated the problem and find-that proper heating can be arranged, provided the Guard House is constructed. If this were done, ample facilities can be installed to accommodate the heating plant from which properly treated air can be led into the Magazine underground and dispersed therein with a minimum of alteration to its interior appearance. (See attached plot plan and added notes below on the Guard House. The Guard House is in first priority in the ultimate restoration schedule.)

The yard between the wall and the Magazine originally contained two unmounted mortars and two field pieces on carriages with complete equipment, accessories, etc. The equipment and accessories could be displayed in the Armory, and would form an interesting exhibit including rammers, spongers, worms, powder spikes, water buckets, linstocks, the different types of charges (of imitation black powder), and the different kinds of cannon balls, shells, cannister, grape shot, gunners calipers, tables and range finders, etc... Nearly all these are "future".

The yard seems to have been a storage place for heavy equipment like any arsenal. Advantage could be taken of this fact to include piles of cannon balls, a ball sorting trough, a hoist or jig for lifting cannon from or into their carriages, and other miscellaneous equipment as desired. These items would be "future".

• A.Doubtless it may be wondered where 18th century cannon and mortars could be procured. Fortunately the 18th century manufacturers of ordnance used tables of proportions based on a module of the diameter of the bore and the modules and their sub-divisions into parts governed the dimensions of each part of the cannon and its carriage. In other words, they designed their ordnance just as the architects were accustomed to design buildings from their architectural order plates. Thus, given the diameter of a cannon ball and access to a library having 18th century ordnance order plates, drawings can easily be made for reproduction with full certainty of complete accuracy and authenticity for all the different typed of ordnance and mountings.

In the Armory, or (Gun) Smith's Shop, which also serves as the entrance to the second floor, another appealing exhibit is possible with the various items of equipment used by 18th century gunsmiths such as vices, anvils, tools, and so on. Some few items are already in place.

One of the attendants would be costumed as the gunsmith who cared for the arms of both the Magazine and, the Governor's Palace in colonial days. With the collections of arms expanded at the Magazine as proposed, this person would really need just such a little shop where the guns and accoutrements could be cleaned and minor repairs performed. Perhaps at times he could demonstrate to the visitors how the lead bullets were cast and how they were wrapped into the paper cartridges used in those days.

Also at this point the Smith could demonstrate how the 18th century firearms were operated and explain the mechanics of firing, loading, and say a few words about ballistics and fire-power, accuracy, and so on. At the same time he could include similar demonstrations about the operation and serving of the mortars and cannon.

This room is separated from the rest of the building and has its own entrance door from the yard. Here would be an exhibit showing the methods of storing powder, weighing it, and testing it. Research that I have done indicates that the present windows should be revised to have two sets of sash, The inner would be fixed and the outer movable. This provision made it possible to place a lamp on the window stool from the outside for night lighting while the inner sash protected the powder from the flame of the light, all of which might be demonstrated to amuse the visitors.

The present furnishings include a powder tester, a pair of powder scales, and powder keg-all antique and original. The keg can serve as 5 a basis of design for the fabrication of reproductions since the several sizes used are known. Originally the powder was stored in kegs and barrels laid on stringers of wood to keep them off the floor.

The main portion of these furnishings would be "future".

Here were stored the arms, canteens, belts, bayonet, shot bags and pouches, cartridge boxes, gun slings, knapsacks, shoes, clothing, hats, tents, etc., etc. Much of the material was stored in hogsheads and tierces, while there mere two tubs of gunflints. Judging from the inventories, this room must have been piled high with equipment, with small aisles or passageways between. As such, I believe it would be a dull exhibit. Therefore, my suggestion would be to .frankly tell this to the visitor and to install only enough of the furnishings to indicate what they were, with room enough to examine them, but done in such a way that an effect of a storage space would be achieved.

Evidence in the original brick walls of this room showed that shelving and racks once were fastened to them. These could be restored in part to display guns and accoutrements. Only a portion of these furnishings have been acquired and no shelves or racks are in place.

The third floor is completely dark without windows, being the space directly below the roof. This portion would not be open to visitors, and could be used for storage, etc.

Fortunately, there are several permanent sources of information-the museum and library at Fort Ticonderoga., New York; the Exhibits at the Morristown National Park, New Jersey, and the one at Yorktown, Virginia; Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland, and particularly the library of the Mariner's Museum at Newport News, Virginia, have sufficient information to cover any blind spots of needed data which will doubtless be encountered in arranging such an exhibit as is proposed in this report.

When the wall around the Magazine was built during the French and Indian Wars, a brick guardhouse was authorized and urea constructed at the same time, to house twelve men. We have already excavated and recorded its foundations. (See notes on Heating)

In exhibiting the Magazine, it would be possible to start off the groups of visitors at the Guardhouse as it is now done in the Palace West Flanking Building as Mr. Goodwin suggested. There they could receive a preliminary explanation of the exhibits, pass next to the Powder Room, then through the yard to see the cannon, next to the Armory, and finally upstairs to see the guns and equipment.

The items listed in the inventories of the contents of the Magazine in colonial times are wide enough in scope to permit a pretty complete military exhibit of the period. Also the Revolutionary period of the Magazine, though later than that recommended for restoration, was so full of historical and patriotic interest that, if properly explained to the visitors, could hardly fail to impress them deeply. It is safe to say that as many stirring events in Williamsburg occurred in and about this building during the Revolution as at any other of the restored structures. And, of them all, the Magazine seems to have been most directly connected with the physical military activities of the time.

As a suggestion, it would seem that the set-up would require four attendants-three of whom might be dressed as guards in the conventional and colorful military uniform of the period, and the other dressed as the armorer. In all probability the armorer would have to "stay put" in the Smith's Shop, one guard at the Guardhouse and the other two on duty guiding parties through. At peak periods, for effect, an extra guard or two might be costumed and seen pacing their rounds outside the wall of the Magazine carrying their bayonetted muskets, sidearms, etc.