Fort Benning, Building No. 864, 7325 Miller Loop, Main Post, Fort Benning Military Reservation

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2392-B. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Building No. 864 (Detached Garage) is located at Miller Loop, Main Post, Fort Benning, Georgia, respectively. The garage was constructed to serve the former Bachelor Officers' Quarters on Richardson Circle. UTM: Date of Construction: Ca. Fabricator: A. J. Honeycutt Company, Inc., Columbus Georgia General Contractor, under the supervision of the War Department, Quartermaster Corps, Construction Division.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2392-B. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Building No. 864 is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as contributing elements to the proposed Main Post Cantonment Historic District. They are associated with the themes of community planning and are examples of Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style. FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 2) Previous Investigations Building No. 864 is a historic architectural property located north of the Main Post of Fort Benning. It is a contributing element to the Main Post Cantonment Historic District In Panamerican Consultants, Inc., prepared a treatment plan for Building No. 864 as part of a plan addressing the care and maintenance of many buildings and structures on post.

The Cultural Resources Management Staff at Fort Benning and the Georgia SHPO have determined that the proposed demolition of Building No. 864 will have an adverse effect on a property eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places pursuant to Section 106 (and Section 11 Of) of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. and its implementing regulations, "Protection of Historic and Cultural Properties" (36 CFR Part Building No. 864 is on land leased to the Fort Benning Hunt Club and no longer has an Army mission. There is no funding of maintenance and repairs for buildings without specific missions. In accordance with Army Alternate Procedures, CRM staff is preparing documentation of Building No. 864 using HABS Level I standards to mitigate the adverse effect.

Background: History of Fort Benning from Establishment to World War II Fort Benning, the primary training center for the U.S. Army's Infantry and home to Airborne and Ranger training, is located south of Columbus, in western Georgia. The post was named for Confederate General Henry Lewis Benning, who was from Columbus. The War Department established Camp Benning in October as a training base for forces during World War I. One of the main training programs at Benning was for the Infantry. The Infantry School traces its history back to the School of Musketry that was established at the Presidio of Monterey in In the War Department moved the school to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, along with the artillery school.

During World War I, training facilities required additional expansion to accommodate the increased numbers of troops. Unlike other installations, Benning remained 1 Stacey L. Griffin, Kelly Nolte, Jeanette Knowles, and Christine M. Longiaru, Surveys and Treatment Plans for the Historic Properties Component Fort Benning Military Reservation, Garages. Prepared for Environmental Programs Management Branch, Directorate of Public Works, Fort Benning Military Reservation, Georgia (Tuscaloosa, AL: Panamerican Consultants, Inc., Architectural History Division, FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 3) open between the wars; it received permanent status after World War I. The Army moved the U.S.

Army Infantry School to a temporary camp on leased land near Columbus, Georgia, in After the end of World War I, troop strength and appropriations were reduced dramatically across both the entire Army and Camp Benning. When the Army purchased the former Bussey plantation, Riverside, in the main cantonment was relocated to its present location south of Upatoi Creek. During the move, the Army began construction on semi-permanent buildings to accommodate the school's population, including barracks, classrooms, bakery, laundry, post exchange, headquarters, hospital, warehouses, utilities, and rail lines, but construction was halted several times while the Army considered closing the camp.

Because of its importance to training, Camp Benning again survived the round of base closures that occurred in the early and in Fort Benning became a permanent military installation by War Department order. Architectural historians for the cultural resources management firm R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc., suggest that the development of Fort Benning reflects the changes in permanent Army design during the and In Brigadier General Briant H. Wells prepared a formal document, which became known as the Wells Plan, for permanent construction, emphasizing the importance of the outdoor environment of the post. Wells envisioned pleasant landscaping in the developed areas. This was an important first step in creating the campus-like environment that characterizes Fort Benning today.

Additionally, the plan advocated the use of Dutch Colonial Revival architecture and featured brick and stuccoed construction with steep roofs. 2 Deborah K. Carman, Leo Hirrel, Katherine E. Grandine, Kathryn M. Kuranda, Bethany M. Usher, Hugh B. McAloon, and Martha R. Williams, National Historic Context for Department of Defense Installations, Volume I. Prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District (Frederick, Maryland: R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc., 29. 3 During World War I, Army leaders realized that infantry officers and NCOs needed specialized training. The Army established the Infantry Board and later the Infantry School partly to instruct the officers in machine gun tactics, the use of mortars, and other new tactics.

This was a dramatic change from earlier thought that placed the infantry at the bottom of the training ladder. For more information see Geoffrey Perrett, There'sA WartoBe Won: The United States Army in World War II (New York: Ballatme Books, 4 For a discussion of the general history of the U.S. Army during the inter-war years, see Maurice Matloff, General Editor, American Military History (Washington Office of the Chief of Military History, 5 Carman et al., National Historic Contextfor Department ofDefense Installations, Volume I, 29. 6 Carman et al., National Historic Context for Department of ^Defense Installations, Volume I, 29.

7 Carman et al., National Historic Contextfor Department ofDefense Installations, Volume I, 29; Sharyn Kane and Richard Keeton, Fort Benning: The Land and the People (Tallahassee, FL: Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service, FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 4) Meanwhile, the military struggled with a nationwide military housing shortage. Approximately one-third of Army personnel in the continental United States lived in temporary structures built in the living conditions at Fort Benning fit this description. In the U.S. Congress enacted Public Law No.

45, authorizing the Secretary of War to dispose of forty-three military installations and to deposit the money received from sales into a special fund designated the Military Post Construction Fund used to construct housing and hospitals. In the first monies were expended, and Fort Benning was one of the recipients. Also at this time, the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, which was responsible for the design and construction at Army facilities, developed new standardized building plans and used Spanish Colonial Revival style for installations in the South, Western plains, Southwest, and California.

Construction at Fort Benning continued during the New Deal Work relief money, channeled through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA) and supervised by the Army, resulted in construction of several important buildings and areas on post. Prominent city planner George B. Ford designed the new plan for Fort Benning. Several important U.S. cities and military bases laid out in the early twentieth century had elements of the City Beautiful and Garden City movements; Fort Benning's built environment was also influenced by these movements. George B.

Ford, who worked on many of the Army cantonments such as Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas, "recommended architectural continuity within residential neighborhoods, at the same time warning against the monotony of subdivisions. Ford advocated the use of curvilinear streets, open spaces for playgrounds, large avenues and streets, and abundant planting." The War Department retained Ford as a consultant for the new posts built with the Military Post Construction Fund. His planning concepts are evident in his plan for the new post. Ford incorporated the existing permanent building with a master plan based on concepts used in the City Beautiful and Garden City movements. Housing remained grouped along curving streets.

Ford introduced strong visual axes between the commanding officers' quarters and the new headquarters building, as well as between various administration buildings. The new buildings constructed during the reflected the Spanish Colonial Revival architectural tradition and featured stuccoed exteriors and red-clay tile roofs. Other installations of this era that used the Spanish 8 HowardB. Nurse, "The Planning of Army Posts," The Quartermaster Review (September-October U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Technical Center of Expertise for Preservation of Structures and Buildings, Context Study of the United States Quartermaster General Standardized Plans, Prepared for U.S. Army Environmental Center (Seattle, WA: U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Technical Center of Expertise for Preservation of Structures and Buildings, 48. 9 For a description of the movement and its effects on urban planning, see William H. Wilson, The City Beautiful Movement (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 10 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Technical Center of Expertise for Preservation of Structures and Buildings, Context Study of the United States Quartermaster General Standardized Plans, 55. FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 5) Colonial Revival architectural style include Fort Mason, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Presidio of San Francisco, Fort Sam Houston, Fort Bliss, Fort Sill, Maxwell Air Force Base, and Randolph Air Force Base.

The growth of Fort Benning during the was propelled by the expansion of the Infantry School and the Civilian Conservation Corps camps. Historians note that other schools and missions came to Fort Benning. In the U.S. Army's Tank School was transferred from Fort Meade to Fort Benning. The Development of Garages at Army Posts With the introduction of automobiles in the United States in the early twentieth century, the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps began to construct garages behind family housing quarters. This was also occurring in the civilian world. In the Quartermaster Corps had prepared a standardized plan for a two-car garage. The wood-frame building was covered in corrugated metal with two sets of paired side-hinged swinging doors leading to the interior space.

The interior was open and had a small storeroom for oil and gasoline. Three years later the Quartermaster Corps prepared a plan for multiple-car garages. Because they were not planned, many of the early garages were constructed of salvage materials and did not originally have any architectural style. Based on previous surveys of military bases, architectural historians from R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates concur that, by the the garages often matched the construction materials of the housing and usually displayed minimal architectural character or ornament. However, this is not true of Building No. this building maintained the architectural character of the surrounding buildings.

During the Army's inter-war construction program, private garages were included in family housing complexes of many new Army and Army Air Corps installations. Garages, usually for multiple cars, were constructed of the same materials as family housing and matched (though with simpler details) the general architectural style of the post. In general, garages were located behind officer and non-commissioned officer housing. During the late the Construction Service of the Quartermaster Corps experimented with garages attached to family housing units. The Army 11 SharynKane and Richard Keeton, Fort Benning: The Land and the People, Carman etal., National Historic Context for Department of Defense Installations, Volume I, 29.

12 Carman et al., National Historic Contextfor Department ofDefense Installations, Volume I, 29. 13 Standard Plans of Army Post Buildings, Plans 14 Carman et al., National Historic Context for Department of Defense Installations, Volume II, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Technical Center of Expertise for Preservation of Structures and Buildings, Context Study of the United States Quartermaster General Standardized Plans, FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 6) also added garages behind officers' rows at older posts; these garages usually were simple brick or wood-frame structures. Construction of Building No. 864 Building No.

864 is an eighteen stall detached garage constructed in as part of the construction of 296 garages at Fort Benning, costing a total of The garage was a one- story building of hollow tile and stucco with tile roofs and gravel floors, constructed under the Army Housing Program for the infantry. The garage was designed to house automobiles belonging to officers at Fort Benning. Building No. 864 was constructed along Service Road (renamed Miller Loop in in the rear of Bachelor Officers' Quarters (BOQ) as shown on Plan CQM The construction of Building No. 864 was the result of the New Deal-era expansion of the post. In October the U.S. Army allotted over $6 million to Fort Benning for a public works construction program.

The program called for the construction of new housing, administration buildings, academic buildings, and other buildings and structures. One of the housing projects approved by the War Department in was the construction of three eighteen-apartment BOQs for The Army awarded a contract to A. J. Honeycutt Company, Inc., of Columbus, Georgia (General Contractor) on June 14, to construct the 864 garages, including Building No. at Fort Benning. The contractor commenced construction of the garages on June 21, they completed the work and the Constructing Quartermaster accepted the garages on November 1 14, Q The buildings were transferred to the Commanding General on November 16, While the garages were constructed by an outside contractor, the U.S.

Army Constructing Quartermaster provided supervision of the project. Table 1 presents the U.S. Army Constructing Quartermaster personnel involved in the construction of Building No. 15 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Technical Center of Expertise for Preservation of Structures and Buildings, Context Study of the United States Quartermaster General Standardized Plans, 16 Most of the specific information regarding the construction of the garages came from Carl H.

Jabelonsky, Completion of Report for the Construction of Two Hundred Ninety-Six Garages at Fort Benning, Georgia (Fort Benning, GA: Office of the Constructing Quartermaster, 17 "Fort Benning Building Program Announced," Benning Herald, (6 October 1; "Construction Just Started on Thirty Officers' Quarters," Benning Herald, (8 December 1, 4. 18 Jabelonsky, Completion of Report for the Construction of Two Hundred Ninety-Six Garages at Fort Benning, Georgia, 3. FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page?) Table 1. U.S. Army Constructing Quartermaster Personnel Involved in the Construction of Building No. Position Name Constructing Quartermaster Captain, Carl H. Jabelonsky Assistant Constructing Quartermaster Captain Eugene W. Lewis 2nd Lt. Carl M.

Sciple Associate Engineer Louis E. Ebeling Associate Engineer Jesse P. Calhoun Mechanical Engineer A.J. Lichty Principal Draftsman Raines Inspector J. B. Holt O.E. Mellon L. F. Pratt Arnold Kamper Table 2 details the organization and major individuals in A. J. Honeycutt Company's organization. According to the Completion Report, the Quartermaster Corps found that the General Contractor's work was "very satisfactory.. .their workmanship was excellent." As with most construction projects, A. J. Honeycutt Company utilized several subcontractors including Hinkle Brothers, Birmingham, Alabama (roofing); J. R. Green Plastering Co., Columbus, Georgia (stucco); and J. R. Payne & Co., Inc., Montgomery, Alabama (brickwork).

Table 3 presents a complete list of materials used in the buildings along with the manufacturers' names and addresses. This information provides evidence of the use of local and regional contractors and subcontractors as a means to stimulate the local economy, which was very important in the New Deal. Historian Daniel Goldfield suggests that it was the influx of federal money, specifically for military construction during World War II and the Cold War, which resulted in the economic rebirth of the New South. Table 2. Major Individuals and Their Roles in A. J. Honeycutt Company, Inc. Name Position H. L. Longorier Superintendent A. O. Grinaker Carpenter foreman D. L. Falls Labor foreman C. M.

Williams Timekeeper Mile Burns Painting foreman 19 Jabelonsky, Completion of Report for the Construction of Two Hundred Ninety-Six Garages at Fort Benning, Georgia, 20 David R. Goldfield, Cotton Fields and Skyscrapers: Southern City andRegion Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 21 Jabelonsky, Completion of Report for the Construction of Two Hundred Ninety-Six Garages at Fort Benning, Georgia, 3. FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 8) Table 3. Complete List of Materials Used in the Buildings with the Manufacturers' 22 Names and Addresses. Product Supplier Location CONCRETE Sand Wardlaw Sand & Gravel Co. Columbus, GA Gravel Wardlaw Sand & Gravel Co. Columbus, GA Portland cement Atlas Cement Co. Birmingham, AL Form lumber Alexander Lumber Co.

Columbus, GA Form oil Sinclair Oil Company Columbus, GA Reinforcing steel Columbus Iron Works Columbus, GA Anchors Columbus Iron Works Columbus, GA

Brick and Building Tile

Sand Wardlaw Sand & Gravel Co. Columbus, GA Mill mixture Southern Cement Co. Birmingham, AL Common brick Clay Products Exchange Columbus, GA Wall tile Clay Products Exchange Columbus, GA LIMESTONE Non-staining cement Southern Cement Co. Birmingham, AL

Roofing and Sheet Metal

Mission tile National Fireproofing Co. Pittsburgh, PA Roofer's cement Peciorra Paint Co. Pittsburgh, PA Roofing paper Flint Coat Co. new Orleans, LA Roofing nails Clendenin Brothers Baltimore, MD Gutters Milwaukee Corrugation Co. Milwaukee, WI Gutter hangers Whitney Corporation Richmond Hill, NY Downspout hangers Whitney Corporation Richmond Hill, NY Water strainers Milwaukee Corrugation Co. Milwaukee, WI Solder Federated Metals Corporation St. Louis, MO STUCCO Sand Wardlaw Sand & Gravel Co. Columbus, GA Portland cement Atlas Cement Co. Birmingham, AL Metal lath U.S. Gypsum Co. New York, NY Colored Portland cement C. K. Williams Co. Pittsburgh, PA CARPENTRY Framing lumber Alexander Lumber Co.

Columbus, GA Millwork National Wood Works Birmingham, AL 22 Jabelonsky, Completion of Report for the Construction of Two Hundred Ninety-Six Garages at Fort Benning, Georgia, FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 9) Product Supplier Location

Rough Hardware

Nails Hubbard Hardware Co. Columbus, GA

Finishing Hardware

Finishing hardware Stanley Hardware Co. New Britain CT PAINT Prepared paints and putty Gillman Paint Co. Chattanooga, TN Because the Army used New Deal relief funds for this project, it had to meet certain labor requirements prescribed by the National Relief Administration and other agencies. According to the Completion Report, 15 percent of the workers used in the project were members of a labor union, and 25 percent of the labor force was procured from the reemployment service. In addition to the percentage of labor used, the codes also required certain pay rates. Also, the minimum hourly rate for skilled labor was while unskilled laborers were paid 40 cents per hour.23 23 Jabelonsky, Completion of Report for the Construction of Two Hundred Ninety-Six Garages at Fort Benning, Georgia, 5.

FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 10) Description of Building No. 864 : Building No. 864 is an eighteen-stall detached garage constructed using provisions of Specifications No. and Drawing No. Constructing Quartermaster which were prepared by the Office of the Fort Benning, Georgia. It is similar in design to Buildings No. 865 and According to the Real Property Records, the garage is long, 21 wide, and high. The Completion Report accurately gives the dimensions of the structure as long, wide, and high. The entrance to each stall is wide, and the garage doors are separated by a concrete wall. Based on the Real Property Records, the garage cost to construct.

The building sits on a concrete foundation and currently has a concrete floor that was added after the original construction. According to the Completion Report, the floor was gravel. It appears that sometime later, the Army covered the floor with concrete; however, no documented evidence was located to verify this alteration. The interior stalls are separated by 2" x 4" stud walls covered with corrugated metal walls. The outer walls are constructed of clay tile covered by stucco. The wood-frame roof has one-inch tongue-in-groove decking, felt underlayment, asphalt shingles, and barrel-style mission clay tile. Building No. roof does not have the mission clay tile and is covered with asphalt shingles. All roofs have exposed wooden rafter ends.

The main facades of the buildings are eighteen bays long. Each stall is separated by a concrete-block base. The garage doors are wooden, twenty-five-panel doors. According to the original drawings, the building had a copper gutter system; this has been removed. The gable ends of the building have a concrete base, stucco walls, and hooded rafters. The rear of each building has 18 three-over-three-panes, wood-frame windows that are x The windows sit on a cast stone lentil. 24 Jabelonsky, Completion of Report for the Construction of Two Hundred Ninety-Six Garages at Fort Benning, Georgia, 2. 25 Fort Benning Real Property Record, Building On file at the Real Property Office, Fort Benning, Georgia. FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 11) Sources Consulted 1.

Primary and unpublished sources: "Construction Just Started on Thirty Officers' Quarters," BenningHerald (8 December 1, 4. "Fort Benning Building Program Announced," Benning Herald III (6 October 1. Fort Benning Real Property Records, Building No. On file at the Real Property Office, Fort Benning, Georgia. Jabelonsky, Carl H. Completion of Report for the Construction of Two Hundred Ninety-Six Garages at Fort Benning, Georgia. Fort Benning, GA: Office of the Constructing Quartermaster, Nurse, Howard B. "The Planning of Army Posts." The Quartermaster Review (September- October) 15. 2. Secondary and published sources: Cannan, Deborah K., Leo Hirrel, Katherine E. Grandine, Kathryn M. Kuranda, Bethany M. Usher, Hugh B. McAloon, and Martha R. Williams.

National Historic Context for Department of Defense Installations, Volume I. Prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District. Frederick, Maryland: R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc., . National Historic Context for Department of Defense Installations, Volume II. Prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District. Frederick, Maryland: R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc., Fisher, W. Robinson and Christina Johnson. Historic Building Survey: Fort Benning, Georgia. Prepared for the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Athens, Georgia: Robinson Fisher Associates, Inc., and Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., Goldfield, David R. Cotton Fields and Skyscrapers: Southern City and Region.

Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, Kane, Sharyn and Richard Keeton, Fort Benning: The Land and the People. Tallahassee, FL: Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service, FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 12) Matloff, Maurice, General Editor. American Military History. Washington Office of the Chief of Military History, Perrett, Geoffrey. There's A War to Be Won: The United States Army in World War II. New York: Ballatine Books, The Jaeger Company and Southern Research Historic Preservation Consultants, Inc. 1997Fort Benning Historic Resource Survey Update. Volume One: Survey Report. Prepared for U.S. Army Infantry Center, Directorate of Public Works, Environmental Management Division, Fort Benning, GA.

Gainesville, GA and Ellerslie, GA: The Jaeger Company and Southern Research Historic Preservation Consultants, Inc., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Technical Center of Expertise for Preservation of Structures and Buildings. Context Study of the United States Quartermaster General Standardized Plans, Prepared for U.S. Army Environmental Center. Seattle, WA: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Technical Center of Expertise for Preservation of Structures and Buildings, Wilson, William H. The City Beautiful Movement. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2392-B. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

In March Shaw Infrastructure, Inc. (Shaw) contracted with Brockington and Associates, Inc., to prepare Historic American Building Survey (HABS) Level I Documentation of Building No. 864 and provide the documentation to Shaw, Fort Benning's Environmental Programs Management Branch, the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the National Park Service the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and other interested parties as required under the National Historic Preservation Act. Fort Benning proposes to demolish Building No. 864 because it is in disrepair. It has been determined that it is more cost efficient to demolish the building than to rehabilitate it. Edward G.

Salo of Brockington and Associates, Inc., prepared the historical narrative and the description of Building William Brockenbrough, also of Brockington and Associates, Inc., served as the project photographer. The historical research and written documentation was completed in and was based on fieldwork completed in March FORT BENNING, BUILDING No. 864 HABS No. GA-2392-B (Page 13) U.S.G.S. 7.5 minute Fort Benning, Georgia Quadrangle showing location of Building No. 864 \ -.. "' - - ** ? ,* N feet ' ^-i o 500Mefere V > V, I