Arsenal Magazine

Duane's take

Now, I'm tellin' this one straight from the official marker, the way the record has it carved in stone. So settle in, because this building has seen more history than most towns twice its size. We're talking about the Arsenal Magazine in San Antonio, Bexar County, and its story starts with a name you might recognize.

At the urging of United States Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, land was secured at San Antonio in 1858 for an arsenal. That's right. The very same Jefferson Davis.

In 1859, the State of Texas added sixteen acres to the arrangement, and the arsenal became headquarters for the U.S. Army's department of Texas. Now, here's where the story gets interesting.

The magazine was still under construction when the Civil War broke out, 1861 to 1865. And in 1861, it was included in Federal property surrendered to Confederate forces. The building was then completed, not by the Union, not by the Confederacy as some grand organization, but by a local contractor right there in San Antonio.

A man named J. H. Kampmann finished the job.

Think about that. A local man, finishing a Federal building, for Confederate Texas, in the middle of a war. The walls of that magazine were built with a purpose beyond just holding weight.

Carefully spaced vents and cavities allowed air to circulate through them, reducing the danger of sparks igniting stored gunpowder. Somebody thought that one through real carefully, and you can appreciate why. The arsenal went to work supplying arms for south Texas, for frontier defense, and for the Sibley expedition to New Mexico in 1862.

Then the war ended. Federal forces reoccupied the site in 1865, and this magazine became the principal supply depot for the line of forts defending frontier settlements. It served the U.S.

Army from that point forward, all the way until 1947, when the arsenal was closed. The building itself is something to behold, even now. A long, narrow, one-story structure with walls of extremely thick ashlar limestone.

End gables extended above the roofline. Lintels that protrude as hood molds. And a date stone, carved in relief, set right over the side entry.

That stone doesn't lie, and neither does this marker. Some buildings just outlast everything thrown at them.

What the marker says

At the urging of United States Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, land was secured at San Antonio in 1858 for an arsenal. In 1859, the State of Texas added 16 acres, and the arsenal became headquarters for the U.S. Army's department of Texas. Under construction when the Civil War (1861-65) began, this magazine was included in Federal property surrendered in 1861. The building was completed for Confederate Texas by local contractor J.H. Kampmann. Carefully spaced vents and cavities in the walls permitted air circulation and reduced the danger of sparks igniting stored gunpowder. The arsenal supplied arms for south Texas and frontier defense, as well as the Sibley expedition to New Mexico in 1862. Reoccupied by Federal forces in 1865, this became the principal supply depot for the line of Forts defending frontier settlements. It served the U.S. Army until 1947, when the Arsenal was closed. The long, narrow one-story structure features walls of extremely thick ashlar limestone construction. Details include end gables extended above the roofline, lintels which protrude as hood molds, and date stone in relief over the side entry.