Fort Pulaski North Pier, Cockspur Island, Savannah

Source document Quoted word for word from HALS GA-9. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

US-80, Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia At the north side of Cockspur Island, northwest of Fort Pulaski, north of the Battery Horace Hambright, north of Fort Pulaski Road, and northeast of the intersection of Fort Pulaski Road and Cockspur Island Road. The North Pier is a contributing resource of the National Register of Historic Places-listed Fort Pulaski National Monument (No. HS 3). NRIS # (South end of the North Pier, Google Earth,

Source document Quoted word for word from HALS GA-9. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The following is taken from the National Register of Historic Places nomination statement of significance for Fort Pulaski: Fort Pulaski is the best preserved and most original of a system of eastern coastal forts designed by the French military engineer Simon Bernard, while in the employ of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Its massive brick walls, backed by heavy piers, and casemated rooms reflected the continuing search for security against increasingly large caliber smoothbore cannon of the period. The best military engineering principles, and finest joinery and masonry techniques of the day were used in its construction.

Yet the siege and rapid reduction of Fort Pulaski in by heavy rifled artillery of the Federal Army, which had no precedent, immediately made obsolete all masonry forts everywhere. Most of the construction features and extensive siege damage are visible and are interpreted to the public today. Ancillary structures include: numerous cisterns, workmen s village house foundations and a stone pier (The North Pier), all associated with the Fort s construction; Cockspur Island Lighthouse prominent in local navigational history and architecturally significant; Battery Hambright which represents the continuing evolution of coastal fortifications; and, the park residence or Quarantine Attendant s Residence once headquarters of the U.S. Quarantine Station on the island.

The Fort Pulaski complex is significant in the areas of architecture, engineering, and military history of the U.S. Although the fort embodies nothing new since Roman times in the way of architectural principles, the

Fort Pulaski North Pier Hals

No. GA-9 (Page 2) craftsmanship exhibited in its construction is outstanding, and it is one of the best surviving examples of North American fort architecture and engineering. It is far more significant in terms of military history. Built as it was, to withstand the heaviest of smoothbore cannon of the day, the fort quickly fell under the punch of rifled artillery. This successful test siege immediately changed the course of military architecture and history. All of the above structures and sites represent the long and important role of Cockspur Island in the Nation s military, architectural, and maritime history.

The Fort Pulaski National Register nomination states the period of significance for the fort generally as the Century with specific dates of for the construction of the fort, for when the fort was garrisoned, and briefly in the The North Pier is significant as a contributing resource to the historic landscape of Fort Pulaski during the Pre-Civil War and Civil War Eras of the fort. The period of significance more closely dates to when the granite cut-stone North Pier was used for the unloading of building materials and supplies for the construction of Fort Pulaski and the unloading of military supplies during the Civil War.

Description: The North Pier is on the north shoreline of Cockspur Island, which is centered between the North and South Channels of the Savannah River, at the estuary of the Savannah River and the Atlantic Ocean. The North Pier, a part of the Fort Pulaski National Monument, is approximately north-northwest of the fort and approximately 150 north of the Battery Horace Hambright. Paved trails leading from the parking area, west of Fort Pulaski, provide access to the North Pier. From the parking area, visitors who take the walking paths north travel through a forested area and encounter Battery Horace Hambright on the right (east) before arriving at the North Pier where the paved walkway terminates. The landscape immediately to the west of the pier is characterized by woody plant material.

To the east, at a slightly lower elevation, the vegetation is dominated by native perennial grasses. Approximately 250 to the east a small marsh has formed with standing water. Beyond the pier, visitors can see across the North Channel of the Savannah River to the adjacent shore of the Tybee National Wildlife Refuge. The landscape surrounding the North Pier is relatively flat, except for the fabricated hill forming the north side of Battery Horace Hambright. There is little grade change from the walkway to the surface of the earthen filled North Pier. Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) dominates the ground plane from Battery Horace Hambright and across the pier. Cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) grow out of the pier individually and in clusters.

Encroaching Bermuda grass and FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 3) seaside tansy (Borrichia frutescens) mark an elevation change down to the shoreline. The shoreline vegetation is distinguished by dispersed clumps of seaside purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum), which quickly diminishes and is replaced by large swaths of smooth cordgrass (Sporobolus alterniflorus). Little vegetation is present past the north end of the pier down toward the top of water at low tide. From the southernmost end of the pier and to the east there is a slight elevation change separating the Bermuda grass down to the sandy shoreline.

Although it was not visible at the time of the on-site visit due to sediment and vegetation, National Park Service staff noted that there are large stones below grade creating the elevation change to the east.1 The organization and pattern of the stones below grade are unknown. The east side of the North Pier appears to receive a higher degree of tidal activity due to the lower elevation, evidenced by low growing coastal vegetation. The west side of the pier is at a slightly higher elevation than the east and is heavily vegetated with large shrubs and trees. The North Pier itself is oriented north-south and is rectangular in shape.

Approximately 200 long by 27 wide, the North Pier features sidewalls of monolithic granite stone (east-west) and a curvilinear granite headwall (north) with earth fill between. Sandstone is used as supplemental infill between the gaps in the granite stone sidewalls. Iron clamps connecting the granite stones at their joints are in varying conditions with some intact, broken, or missing. Mooring rings and spikes are spaced along the granite stones of the sidewalls. The granite stones of the pier vary in size but are generally long, 3 wide, and 2 thick with a rough finish and markings from the quarrying process. The headwall is observably of a different character than the rest of the structure.

Improvements to the north end of the North Pier were made during the Mission 66 Era when curvilinear granite curbing was added to the end of the pier. The granite curbing was salvaged from unused gun racks at Fort Pulaski and stands in stark contrast to the monumental rectilinear granite masonry of the sidewalls of the pier.2 Two concrete walls with large stone aggregate are just north of the headwall. Research indicates these walls may have been deck supports for a wooden platform or dock built at the end of the stone pier. The stone aggregate of these features was observed to be largely exposed on the north concrete wall while the southern concrete wall aggregate was further inset with some areas largely exposed near the ground.

From the North Pier measured to 120 long and 30 wide and consisted of yellow pine piers and planks, sheet copper on wood members immersed in 1 Katherine D. Purcell, conversation with Peter Russell, Cockspur Island, GA, December 13, 2 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory, 83. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 4) water, and iron bolts.3 In disrepair for the next several years, a reconstruction project began at the end of with the installation of the cut granite head wall on the North Pier.

By a wooden L-shaped addition, measuring 87 long by 26 wide, extended out from the head of the North Pier to the north before turning west.4 The addition was constructed on wood piles and had two deck supports just north of the granite headwall.5 It is hypothesized the original deck supports were damaged or lost due to a storm in the latter half of the as the material of the current deck supports visually matches that used in the Battery Horace Hambright, which was completed in However, the provenance of the historic material cannont be substantiated through primary or secondary sources and remains unknown.

Between the granite stone side walls of the North Pier were constructed and in the coping stones were added and decaying timbers were replaced.7 Records indicate that the wooden structure at the end of the pier seems to have been replaced at various intervals throughout the North Pier s history, even after the Civil War, and may have changed format and design from one iteration to another. This feature is currently non-existent. Approximately 200 due east of the North Pier, NPS staff noted the remains of a parallel wooden structure.

These remains suggest the location of a secondary pier, built at the mouth of the canal on the north shore of Cockspur Island in ca.1830 and shown on a survey map of the fort.8 The extent and location of the structure could not be verified from recent survey data or above-ground observation during the December field documentation.9 A large stone 200 east of the pier and along the grade change appears to have been displaced by tree roots. The large cut stone could have been a part of a substantial stone breakwater completed along the north shore of Cockspur Island in or was possibly an abutment for the wooden structure. A survey of Fort Pulaski in depicts an additional structure adjacent to the North Pier but does not notate the 3 Maj. Babcock to Gen. Charles Gratiot, Maj. S. Babcock, Engr.

Transmits report and sketch on state of operations for March, Letter, April 8, Fort Pulaski (FOPU) Archives, Special Report Engineering Correspondence. 4 Capt. Mansfield to Col. Joseph G. Totten, Capt. Mansfield transmits his annual reports, Letter, October 22, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 5 Maj. Babcock to Gen. Charles Gratiot, Maj. S. Babcock, Engr. Transmits Quarterly estimate (2d Q, and for months of May and June, Letter, June 2, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 6 Panamerican Consultants, Inc., Battery Horace Hambright Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia Historic Structure Report, (Atlanta: National Park Service, 3.

7 Rogers Young, A Connecticut Yankee on the Georgia Coast: The Engineering Epic of Fort Pulaski, National Park Service, Capt. Mansfield to Gen. Charles Gratiot, Capt. Mansfield transmits his annual reports Letter, November 19, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence; Capt. Mansfield to Col. Totten, Operations report, March Letter, April 5, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence; Lt. Alexander to Col. Totten, Lt. Alexander transmits operations report for January Letter, February 6, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 8 Lt. Mansfield, Cockspur Isl & Sea March 8, 1831[map], no scale, U.S. Department of Engineers, 19 March National Archives II (College Park, Cartographic and Architectural Records, Record Group 77, Drawer 70, Sheet 7.

9 Purcell, conversation. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 5) materiality or the use of the structure.10 The eastern adjacent structure is not depicted in a survey of Fort Pulaski in The NPS worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use dredged sediment from the Savannah River to mitigate the significant erosion that has taken place along the north shoreline The addition of the dredged sediment appears to have had a dramatic impact on the shoreline, significantly reducing the visibility of the northern end of the pier. Prior to the revetment, approximately 10 of the pier s vertical elements were exposed at the pier s northern-most section, according to NPS staff.

This is in stark contrast to measurements taken during field documentation in December in which the most exposed areas only measured 4 above the soil and were further back from the end of the historic pier.11 History: Early History of Cockspur Island (Ca. 500 AD) Information on the prehistoric era of human occupation on Cockspur Island is minimal. The following section on the early history of Cockspur Island is from Archeological Issues at Fort Pulaski National Monument by John H. Jameson On nearby Whitemarsh and Wilmington Islands, archaeological investigations have shown that humans resided in the area during the Middle Woodland (CA. 500 to A.D. and Late Woodland (ca. A.D. 500 to A.D.

periods.12 The Euchee Indians lived on Tybee Island, just east of Cockspur Island, when Spain colonized the Georgia coast as part of La Florida in the early Beginning in the Spanish friars of the Franciscan Order worked their way up the Georgia coast to establish missions and assimilate coastal indigenous chiefdoms into greater Spanish Florida. The northern most mission stood at the northern edge of the Guale chiefdom at the mouth of Ogeechee River, about fifteen miles southwest of Cockspur Island.

The downfall of the Spanish missions in Georgia began when the English colony of Charles Town to the north grew quickly in the Because the English won over many Indians who supported the Spanish Missions, coupled with a series of mission raids by English-allied Indians, the Spanish left Georgia and retreated to Florida by From that year to the early the Spanish, French, and English all vied to possess Georgia.13 10 Cockspur Isl & Sea March 8, 1831[map], National Archives II (College Park). 11 Purcell, conversation. 12 John H. Jameson Archeological Issues at Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia (Tallahassee: Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service, 13 Phinizy Spalding, Spain and the Coming of the English, pt. 1 of A History of Georgia, ed.

Kenneth Coleman (Athens: University of Georgia Press, FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 6) On January 30, six British ships ferrying General James Edward Oglethorpe and a group of settlers sailed up the Savannah River, anchoring off Cockspur Island, then called Peeper Island.14 Peeper Island derives its name either from the native peeping tree frogs or its peeping out from behind Tybee Island.15 One of Oglethorpe s passengers on a later voyage to Cockspur Island in was John Wesley, Founder of American Methodism.

According to Wesley s journal, a small group set foot on Peeper Island and kneeled down to give thanks to God, marking the first recorded visit of Europeans to the island.16 Wesley soon served as prohibition officer in the new Georgia Colony (Providence of Georgia), thwarting trade in illicit rum on Peeper Island.17 His trustworthy character earned him much respect in the colony.18 Fort George and Fort Green Period AD AD) In the middle to late the English settlers of coastal Georgia, along with the English settlers of coastal South Carolina, feared a military threat and attack by the Spanish from Saint Augustine, located along what is now known as the coast of Florida and approximately 160 miles south of Fort Pulaski.

In an effort to defend the Providence of Georgia, a petition was sent to King George the III to provide a defense fortification. In construction of Fort George at Cockspur Island commenced on 20-acres of land reserved for the Use of his Majesty through a larger land purchase in by a settler named Jonathan Bryan.19 Fort George, constructed using enslaved labor, included a small wooden palisade, a fence consisting of wooden stakes, that enclosed a blockhouse used as a magazine, storehouse, and barracks.20 In addition to providing defense against Spanish attack, Fort George helped protect the Cockspur Island colonists from pirates, smuggling, and the spread of disease.

The fort eventually fell into disrepair and was abandoned in as the colonists believed the fort would not withstand an attack by the strong fleets of the British.21 The aggressive progression of the French revolution and other European conflicts resulted in Congress approving the First System of American Seacoast Defenses in which authorized the construction of newly designed forts to protect major U.S. coastal cities. These forts were impermanent wooden 14 A. E. Sholes, comp., A Chronical History of Savannah (Savannah: Morning News Print, 15 Talley Kirkland, FOPU, conversation with Author, 1 November 16 James W.

Holland, Key to Our Province A Study of a Marsh Island of Georgia in the Mouth of the Savannah River, Site of Fort Pulaski National Monument (Washington, National Park Service, 13. 17 Ibid, 17. 18 J. Faith Meader, Fort Pulaski National Monument Administrative History (Atlanta, GA, National Park Service, 3. 19 Holland, 44. 20 Fort Committee, Department of Archives and History, Georgia Forts, Georgia Magazine (Feb.-Mar. 17- 19. 21 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 32. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 7) structures that consisted of batteries, magazines, and either barracks or two-story blockhouses containing small cannons on the upper story.

22 It was through this system that Fort Green was built on Cockspur Island in to protect nearby Savannah, and was constructed of timbers, earth, and surrounded by pickets.23 Fort Green was used primarily as a quarantine station, presumably for ships coming into Savannah, in response to the yellow fever epidemic in the West Indies.

Many officers and soldiers stationed at the fort complained about its dismal living conditions.24 Some claims state that Fort Green was constructed near the site of the former Fort George, but a letter states the fort was located near the area of the north wharf (North Pier).25 In a hurricane flooded the entire Cockspur Island and destroyed Fort Green, killing half of the people stationed on the island.26 As part of the Second System of American Seacoast Defenses in initiated in response to the fears of a British attack and the Napoleonic Wars, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (established in began construction of fortifications characterized by high stone or brick walls with multilevel tiers, internal casements, and internal gun positions.

With the pressure of British attacks during the War of and damage to the First System forts, Congress created the Board of Fortifications for Seacoast Defense to design a new comprehensive defense system, the Third System of American Seacoast Defenses.27 It is under the Third System that Fort Pulaski was planned and constructed.

Construction of the Fort Pulaski North Pier AD AD) Several years after the Third System commenced, the Board of Engineers for Fortification, appointed by President James Madison, chose Cockspur Island as a potential fort site during a survey completed in March by Captain John Le Conte as part of the Board of Engineer s fifty sites listed for immediate need of fortification.28 Simon Bernard, a French military engineer for the Third System, completed an additional survey of Cockspur Island to determine the potential location of the fort and in Bernard s fortification plan received approval to build a new fort, Fort Pulaski, on Cockspur Island. In the same year, Major Samuel Babcock, U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers project engineer, conducted topographical surveys of the island and began construction on Fort Pulaski s 22 J. Faith Meader, Fort Pulaski National Monument Administrative History (Atlanta, GA, National Park Service, 5. 23 Brain J. Bitner, Shawn A. Gregoire, and Kyle F. Graham, Addendum to Fort Pulaski, HABS GA-2158, Historic American Building Survey (HABS), National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, undated, p. 3. 24 Ibid. 25 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 36. 26 Meader, 5. 27 Ibid, 28 Ralston B. Lattimore, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Historical Handbook Series No. 18 (Washington National Park Service, 6. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 8) workmen s village, a north channel dock (later known as the North Pier)29, and a system of drainage ditches and embankments.30 Robert E. Lee, a West Point graduate at the time, joined Babcock as an assistant engineer in and eventually took the lead as Babcock s health began to deteriorate.31 It was not until March that a prominent Savannah plantation and business owner named Alexander Telfair deeded the majority of Cockspur Island acres) to the U.S. Government for The 20-acre portion of the island owned by the State of Georgia was not deeded to the U.S.

Government until and it is within these 20 acres that Fort Pulaski was constructed.32 When Major Babcock planned out the construction of Fort Pulaski, his first task was to, build wharves or landings on the North Channel of the Savannah River . 33 In February the U.S Army Corps of Engineers chose the site for the North Pier, a temporary wooden docking structure for the transportation of construction materials, due to its proximity to the work at the fort. The North Pier would be sheltered from winds by land except for easterly winds and would allow small boats of no more than 12-feet in length to dock.

The first annual report on the progress of the construction of Fort Pulaski describes an excavation of a short canal during the spring The new canal was used to transport building materials for the fort from the North Channel to the northwestern corner of the site. Two temporary wharves were constructed at the mouth of the canal.

Construction of the North Pier on the North Channel commenced sometime in January or February Due to the presence of worms at Cockspur Island, more commonly known as navel shipworms (Teredo navalis), any wood immersed in water and used in the construction of the North Pier was sheeted in copper.34 Material pricing estimates from April, May, and June list 450 units of sheet copper, of yellow pine, and pounds of iron bolts for the construction of piers (including the North Pier) at the fort, a total of for materials alone.35 Correspondence between Major Babcock and General Charles Gratiot, Chief Engineer, on April 8, indicates that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had completed construction on the permanent 120 by 30 wooden North Pier and 29 Further referred to as the North Pier.

Through historic documentation, the North Pier has been called by many different names including the north channel dock, the north wharf, and the north pier. 30 Rogers W. Young, The Construction of Fort Pulaski, The Georgia Historical Quarterly 20 31 Rogers W. Young, Robert E. Lee and Fort Pulaski, Popular Series 11 (Washington, National Park Service, 32 Meader, 6. 33 Young, A Connecticut Yankee on the Georgia Coast: The Engineering Epic of Fort Pulaski, 19. 34 Maj. S. Babcock to Col. Gratiot, February 8, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence; Young, A Connecticut Yankee on the Georgia Coast: The Engineering Epic of Fort Pulaski, 35 Babcock to General Charles Gratiot, June 2, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 9) that it would serve as their main landing on Cockspur Island.36 A secondary pier was also under construction, east of the North Pier, in April to protect the mouth of the canal that connected the North Channel to the fort.37 Primary and secondary sources do not reveal the completion date of the secondary pier. Robert E. Lee returned to Virginia in the summer of after progressing the Fort Pulaski dike system to near completion. During that fall, a major storm destroyed the Fort Pulaski dike system and the North Pier. When Lee returned, he helped to repair the damage only to have it reversed by another storm that hit Cockspur Island in December requiring additional repairs to the dike system and the North Pier. Additionally, in December First Lieutenant Joseph K. F.

Mansfield replaced Major Babcock as project engineer due to Babcock s failing health. Under Mansfield s direction, Robert E. Lee performed an additional survey of the work completed to date on Cockspur Island and the current condition of the existing structures as Mansfield was uncertain of the island s ability to support the large structure of the fort. Mansfield and Lee s survey, completed in also included the North Pier and the secondary pier. The use and condition of the secondary pier is unclear though it appears east of the North Pier in the survey map. Alongside the survey of Cockspur Island, Lee began tests to understand the island s soil bearing capacity. By February Mansfield and Lee concluded that the foundation plan for the fort would need to be changed.

Lee oversaw Fort Pulaski s foundation excavation up until April when he received orders to return to Virginia.38 Correspondence from March indicates that First Lieutenant Mansfield thought the location of the North Pier was ill chosen due to the pier being exposed to northerly and easterly storms, its proximity to an oyster bed, and its siting on mud.

The North Pier s condition at this time was poor with an estimated repair cost of at least Mansfield deemed the North Pier too damaged for repair, which led to the reconstruction of the South Channel Pier in With the North Pier in disrepair, the South Channel Pier, located south of Fort Pulaski on the South Channel of the Savannah River, became more active for transportation of construction materials and supplies for the fort.40 For a year beginning in October the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reconstructed the North Pier head wall with cut granite.41 Purchase logs from note additional wharf supplies were requested including 300 palmetto 36 Maj. Babcock to General Charles Gratiot, Maj. S. Babcock, Engr.

Transmits report and sketch on state of operations for March, Letter, April 8, FOPU Archives, Special Report Engineering Correspondence. 37 Young, A Connecticut Yankee on the Georgia Coast: The Engineering Epic of Fort Pulaski, 23. 38 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 37. 39 Mansfield to Gratiot, Engr. Mansfield, transmits report on inventory of materials, at work on Cockspur Island, Letter, March 8, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 40 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 38. 41 Young, The Construction of Fort Pulaski, FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 10) wharf logs.42 Though these materials were onsite around the time of the repairs and reconstruction of the North Pier, use of these materials on the North Pier cannot be confirmed.

In the fall of workers added a wooden L-shaped addition to the head of the North Pier that measured 87 by 26 broad and was constructed on piles.43 An survey of Cockspur Island, housed at the National Archives, documented the wooden L-shaped addition to the North Pier to extend out westward.

The survey does not depict the secondary pier at the mouth of the North Channel canal, as shown in the survey, concluding that the secondary pier was either removed or destroyed sometime between and Additionally, the survey drawing depicts walkways along the shoreline and toward Fort Pulaski from the North Pier that mirror the current walkways with the exception of the area around Battery Horace Hambright that was altered at the time of the battery construction.45 With these improvements, the North Pier became the more active docking point on the island and the North Channel of the Savannah River became the more prominent shipping lane even after the completion of Fort Pulaski.46 Work on the North Pier started again in with the construction of the North Pier granite eastern wall first, followed by the western side.47 Continuing into the first half of decaying timbers of the North Pier were replaced and coping stones were installed that connected the pier head to the island.48 The Army Corps of Engineers finally completed the construction on Fort Pulaski in after 18 years and nearly $1 million in construction costs.

The construction of the permanent granite stone North Pier was made possible by the breakwater, multiple stones piled along the outer edge of the dike system, which protected and stabilized the northern shoreline from erosion. Early eastern sections of the breakwater are depicted as early as In the survey of Cockspur Island, the breakwater is shown to cover the northeastern perimeter of Cockspur Island and extending west from the North Pier along the shoreline with a break in the stone between the opening of the canal and the eastern side of the North Pier.50 42 Young, The Construction of Fort Pulaski, 43 Capt. Mansfield to Col. Joseph G. Totten, October 22, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 44 Barton S.

Alexander Lieutenant Engineers, Cockspur Island Savannah River [map], yards to 36 inches, U.S. Department of Engineers, National Archives II (College Park), Cartographic and Architectural Records, RG 77, Drawer 70, Sheet 26. 45 Alexander, 46 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 38. 47 Young, A Connecticut Yankee on the Georgia Coast: The Engineering Epic of Fort Pulaski, 48 Capt. Mansfield to Gen. Charles Gratiot, November 19, Capt. Mansfield to Col. Totten, April 5, Lt. Alexander to Col. Totten, February 6, 49 Cockspur Isl & Sea March 8, 1831[map], National Archives II (College Park). 50 Cockspur Island Savannah River [map], National Archives II (College Park). FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 11) Near the North Pier was a canal, which ran from an area adjacent to the North Pier to the Fort Pulaski moat and advanced battery. The canal is shown on the survey of Fort Pulaski and was filled in between Storms continued to plague the North Pier in the decades after its completion. A storm in October once again left the North Pier in disrepair and required the replacement of the pier s wooden platforms and flooring, the replacement of decaying piles, and the replacement of coping stone that had washed away.52 In carpenters finished the woodworking repairs on the North Pier and any remaining wooden piles were coppered.

A crane was noted to be on site at the North Pier as early as and was replaced in by the Army Corps of Engineers, presumably for the loading and unloading of vessels at the pier.53 A violent gale storm on September 8, damaged the North Pier and swept away the caps and flooring timbers, damaged multiple piles, and forced a portion of the granite stones from the riverbed, requiring the North Pier to be rebuilt in the late summer/early fall of The location of the flooring timbers, whether at the end of the pier or also the central portion, is unclear and not definitively stated in sources.

Material distinctions are indicated in the survey between the wooden L-shaped end of the pier and the remainder of the stone pier, suggesting at this time that the flooring timbers were at the end of the pier.55 Site observation suggests that the flooring timbers were at the northern end, as it is lower and where the wooden portions of the pier were attached. Additionally, stones on the eastern side of the pier (at the end of the pier before the addition undertaken in are slightly out of line with the remainder of the pier and shows signs of sustained damaged potentially due to either the October or the September storm, however, this hypothesis is not confirmed through primary or secondary sources.

In November the North Pier head was filled with stone and in December masons drilled holes in the top courses of the North Pier stones to secure the top stones to one another 51 Cockspur Island Savannah River [map], National Archives II (College Park); Lt. Gilmer, Savannah, GA to Gen. Totten, U.S. Chief Engineer, Lt. Gilmer reports on progress of quarters repairs, Ft. Pulaski, April 22, Letter, April 22, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence; Capt. Gilmer, Savannah, GA to General Totten, U.S. Chief Engineer, Operations report, March, April, Fort Pulaski, Letter, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 52 Lt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten, Lt.

Gilmer reports on Dike system on Cockspur Island, Letter, December 11, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 53 Capt. Mansfield to Col. Totten, Capt. Mansfield transmits project of operations, March 18, Letter, March 18, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence; Lt. Gilmer to General Totten, Department approves expenditures, Ft. Pulaski, Letter, June 20, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence; Lt. Gilmer to General Totten, Operations Report, July Ft. Pulaski, Letter, August 2, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 54 Capt. Gilmer to General Totten, Capt. Gilmer request funds to recommence operations at Ft. Pulaski, Letter, January 19, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence; Capt. Gilmer to Gen.

Totten, Capt. Gilmer transmits annual progress report, Pulaski, Letter, October 1, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 55 Cockspur Island Savannah River [map], National Archives II (College Park). FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 12) using iron clamps.56 Workers also installed fender piles in February and March of Continued repairs to the North Pier in and included the replacement of wooden portions of the pier with stone and the coppering of the wood piles.58 Fort Pulaski During the Civil War AD AD) The following section on Fort Pulaski s role in the Civil War is taken from the Fort Pulaski National Monument Administration History: In November General Robert E. Lee returned to Fort Pulaski to strengthen its coastal defense.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis had made Lee a Confederate brigadier general and military advisor earlier that year. In command of forces in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, Lee adopted a new strategy of defense that involved relocating seacoast island forces to the mainland. As a result, a battery of artillery then existed at Tybee Island was dismantled, and its heavy guns were ferried to Fort Pulaski.59 Union forces quickly occupied undefended Tybee Island and established a permanent garrison in December Soon afterwards, Union troops prepared to attack Fort Pulaski. In January and February these troops improved and guarded waterways to the north of Cockspur Island.

They also constructed various batteries around the perimeter of Fort Pulaski, including a battery on Jones Island across the North Channel from Cockspur Island and a battery on Bird Island, situated in between the North and South Channels. The most significant emplacements, however, were eleven batteries positioned along the north short of Tybee Island. 60 During March, Fort Pulaski soldiers reported hearing movement at night across the South Channel . On the morning of April 10, Fort Pulaski was attacked by Union artillery after Col. Olmstead refused a formal demand to surrender. Fighting was intense during the morning hours, but by the day s end, the battle was essentially over. At first, 56 Capt. Gilmer to Gen.

Totten, Operations report, November Fort Pulaski, Letter, December 11, FOPU Archives, Special Report Engineering Correspondence; Capt. Gilmer, Savannah GA to General Totten, Operations report, October, Fort Pulaski, November 7, Letter, November 7, FOPU Archives, Special Report Engineering Correspondence. 57 ; Capt. J.E. Gilmer to Gen. Totten, Operations report, February Fort Pulaski, Letter, March 7, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 58 Capt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten, Operations report, June, Fort Pulaski, Letter, July 9, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence; Capt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten, Operations report, October Fort Pulaski, Letter, November 11, FOPU Archives, Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. 59 Ralston B.

Lattimore, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia, Handbook Series No.18, Reprint (Washington, National Park Service), 20. 60 Quincy A. Gillmore, Siege and Reduction of Fort Pulaski National Monument reprint, Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 13) Union General Quincy A. Gillmore, commanding the siege, underestimated the impact of his attack . After a few more hours of bombardment the next morning, Union artillery breached the southeast wall. The gaping hole in the fort created by these weapons allowed projectiles to penetrate dangerously close to Fort Pulaski s north magazine, which held forty thousand pounds of black powder. Realizing his vulnerability and the futility of further resistance, Olmstead surrendered Fort Pulaski just after p.m .

The seizure of Fort Pulaski resulted in a successful blockade of the Savannah River, the principal port of Georgia. The capture of the fortification thus helped to damage the economy of the Confederacy and contributed to the Union s victory . Following Fort Pulaski s capture by Federal forces, a number of units served there. These included the 7th Connecticut Regiment, the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, and the New York Volunteers. In October the New York Volunteers were stationed at Fort Pulaski and assigned to guard a group of Confederate prisoners of war later referred to as The Immortal Six Hundred . 61 In November 197 of the prisoners were sent to Hilton Head to relieve overcrowding at Fort Pulaski . The Fort Pulaski prisoners, including the sick, spent the winter without blankets.

They ate starvation rations of bread, cornmeal, and pickles. In March the remaining 290 of the original six hundred prisoners were in such a wretched condition that embarrassed Union officers sent them to Fort Delaware to be fattened up before their release in July .62 After the Civil War, Fort Pulaski saw no further combat or bloodshed, although it remained a military post for several years. During the Civil War, the Confederate and Union Armies used the North Pier to unload military supplies to Fort Pulaski.63 No other information was found to document the North Pier s use at Fort Pulaski during the Civil War.

US Army Corps of Engineers to the National Park Service/CCC AD AD) At the end of the Civil War in and for a few months after, Fort Pulaski was used as a political prison for several Confederate leaders including Confederate 61 Mauriel Joslyn, Immortal Captives: The Story of 600 Confederate Officers and the United States Prisoner of War Policy, (Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Company, 62 David M. Brewer and John E. Cornelison Archeological Testing and Remote Sensing Survey for the Graves of the Immortal Fort Pulaski National Monument (Tallahassee: Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service, 63 C. Bowie Lanford, North Pier HABS Inventory Form, FOPU Archives, FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 14) Secretary of State Robert Hunter, Secretary of War James A.

Seddon, and Secretary of Treasury George Trenholm.64 In a February correspondence between Lieutenant Colonel C. A. Reynolds and P. W. Houlihan, Captain of the Infantry U.S.A., the condition of the North Pier was discussed: Both the North and South wharfs are now in such a dilapidated condition as to render them unsafe for the shipment of supplies for this garrison, and nearly all of those (girders) of the north wharf, are notably rotten. I make no doubt that before long those wharfs will be carried away by the constant action of the tide unless they are soon repaired.65 The letter noted that the while the North Wharf was a convenient point for shipping at high water, a large sloop or small schooner could not land at the wharf during low water.

Since a vessel could land at the South Wharf at low water, Captain Houlihan recommended the repair of both wharves for the convenience of the garrison and the benefit of the public service. 66 A second letter dated March 28, between D. C. Wilson and Brevet Lieutenant Jason P. Low, also reported on the condition of the North Wharf: The North Dock is in a very unsafe and dilapidated condition.

The planking and timbers above water being much decayed with dry rot and the piles and braces under water are completely worm eaten, the entire structure is so far gone that it is necessary to have it all removed.67 For the rebuilding the North Pier, Wilson suggested: [I]nstead of butting against the side of the stone pier or causeway, that it be built to run along the end or front [of the pier,] projecting out its entire width further into the water which is twenty four feet, thereby increasing the depth of water and making a better berth for vessels to lay alongside.68 The cost of Wilson s suggested repairs, which were to be done in a strong, substantial, and workmanlike manner, was not to exceed 64 Panamerican Consultants, Inc., 16. 65 Capt. P. W. Houlihan to Lt. Col. C.A.

Reynolds, Fort Pulaski, GA, Letter, February 25, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box 66 Capt. P. W. Houlihan to Lt. Col. C.A. Reynolds, February 25, Letter, National Archives I (Washington, 67 D. Wilson to Lt. James P. Low, Letter, March 28, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box 68 D. Wilson to Lt. James P. Low, Letter, March 28, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box 69 D. Wilson to Lt. James P. Low, Letter, March 28, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 15) A few days later on April 2, Brevet Lieutenant Jason P. Low forwarded Wilson s recommendations to Major General R. O. Tyler, chief quartermaster.

Low noted, however, that he was of the opinion that only one wharf was needed for the landing of ordinary supplies for the garrison at Fort Pulaski and that the North Wharf should be selected for this purpose. Low stated that the North Wharf was the point at which supplies have usually been landed and it is much more convenient of access than the South Wharf. In his letter, Low stated that his recommendation was informed by a man who worked at Fort Pulaski for thirty-three years up until the start of the Civil War. The man reported to Low that occasionally, particularly when a storm prevailed from the northeast, supplies had to land at the South Wharf, which was sheltered from northeast gales.

Low wrote that when approaching the North Wharf through the oyster beds 12 feet of water is found at high water and that in April there was 1 of low water at the east end of the North Wharf and 4 at the west end. Formerly, there was a depth of 9 of water at the North Wharf and 10 at the South Wharf at low water. Low concluded that there was not a difference in the depth of water at the two wharves and that it would be necessary to dredge at both to restore the normal depth. For rebuilding the North Wharf, Low recommended that it should be built across the front of the present wharf, which would carry it twenty or thirty feet farther out, and cover a quantity of stone that now lies immediately in front of the stone portion of the wharf and reduce the depth of water on the east end.

70 Lieutenant Colonel C. A. Reynolds confirmed this approach on April 10, in a letter to Major General R. O. Tyler. Reynolds wrote that there was a crib work some twenty feet wide, extending out from the front of the stone pier of the North Wharf at Fort Pulaski, which is not visible at low water mark. Reynolds had learned from Colonel Claghorn, formerly a harbor commissioner, that it would be impossible to move the crib as the stone pier rested on this section of the crib work.

Consequently, it would be more feasible to build an addition on to the stone pier, extending it to the end of the crib, instead of dredging.71 Beginning in the US Army Corps of Engineers, under the direction of General Gillmore, performed a series of improvements to the fort including remodeling the demilune, installing new earth-sheltered magazines and passageways, and constructing gun emplacements. Additional funds were acquired to make repairs to the drawbridge, wharf, seawalls, and roads.72 Repairs 70 Lt. James P. Low to Lt. Col. C.A. Reynolds, Letter, April 2, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box 71 Lt. Col. C.A. Reynolds to Maj. Gen. R.O. Tyler, April 10, Letter, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box 72 Meader and Binkley, 12 citing Quartermaster Gen.

to Belknap, Secretary of War, December 4, Townsend, Adj. Gen., to Maj. Gen. Halleck, August 25, FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 16) to the North Pier in were estimated to cost between and dependent on if the piles were to be coppered and the consideration that materials were to be transported from Savannah.73 It is unclear if the revisions suggested in for the North Pier were completed and to what extent; however, a later report dating from stated that the wooden wharf built in has almost disappeared. The shell road leading from its site to the fort is in fair order.

74 In October Army units that remained stationed at Fort Pulaski were withdrawn and the fort was officially closed on October A letter dated September 30, reported that a hurricane blew in from the northwest that was: disastrous to this Island [Cockspur Island] and the fort structures, and public property on it; the tide being very high at the time the storm set-in, and it blew so furious that the wind and waves tore up all the planking of the dock, (a wooden structure) so that it will be necessary to procure lumber and repair the dock before it can be used or anything can be landed upon it.76 A hurricane in damaged the dike and ditch system at Fort Pulaski, destroyed the Cockspur Island lightkeeper s house, and washed away the construction village.

During this time, the Cockspur Island lighthouse keeper served as the caretaker of the fort to prevent vandalism as there were no available funds to repair and upkeep the fort.77 In another hurricane, known as the Sea Island Hurricane, devastated the area and featured 16 storm surges.78 It is likely that both of these storms would have had dramatically adverse effects on the North Pier, particularly the wooden features, but the extent of the damage and repair to the North Pier during these events is unknown at this time.

Even though Fort Pulaski was abandoned as an active post, the War Department constructed coastal defense measures at the fort during the Spanish-American War with the completion of Battery Horace Hambright on March 31, south of the North Pier and about a quarter mile north of the fort. As the Spanish fleets did not reach American waters, the Battery Horace Hambright never saw action and with the threat of a war avoided, Fort Pulaski and Cockspur Island once again were abandoned. Research did not reveal information on repairs or maintenance to the North Pier during the Spanish-American War. It is unknown 73 Col. A.P. Blunt Depot Quartermaster to Col. A. R.

Eddy Chief Quartermaster of the Department of the South, Letter, November 11, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box 74 Fort Pulaski, Mouth of Savannah River, GA [map], National Archives II (College Park, Cartographic and Architectural Records, RG 77, Drawer 70, Sheet A. 75 Panamerican Consultants, Inc., 76 Ordnance Sergeant John H. Martin to Adjutant General USA, Letter, September 30, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box 77 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 48. 78 Michele Nicole Johnson, Sea Islands Hurricane," New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jul 17, FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 17) if the North Pier or South Channel Pier were used for unloading materials for the Battery Horace Hambright, but due to its proximity to the battery site, it is likely that the North Pier would have been the most ideal location for this purpose. Site observations note that the materials of the North Pier deck supports are nearly identical to those of the Battery Horace Hambright as well as the method of construction, including large iron rebar-type elements, which was becoming more prevalent in construction during this time.

However, information in primary and secondary sources have not substantiated that the materials from Battery Horace Hambright were used at the North Pier.79 The War Department issued a license to the City of Savannah for a quarantine station on the northwest portion of Cockspur Island and initial construction was completed in The number of immigrants coming into the United States was high during the and reports of cholera outbreaks in central Europe provoked panic in Americans that in turn prompted Savannah city officials to construct a fumigating and disinfecting plant on the northwest side of the station in The quarantine station s original purpose included stopping and detaining any and all persons on board vessels travelling from the West India Islands, New Orleans, and from any Dutch, French, or Spanish ports for twenty- five days, including days of the voyage from their last port, to prevent the spread of disease.80 The quarantine station was expanded when a license was issued from the War Department to the Treasury Department in in order to occupy the west end of Cockspur Island.

With this license, the Quarantine Station increased in size to approximately 130 acres.81 The Fort Pulaski National Monument Administrative History further details the new construction at the Quarantine Station that included: the extension of the wharf (at the Quarantine Station of the far west end of the island, separate from the North Pier), a new kitchen and dining hall, new quarters, and a barracks building. Decontamination facilities were later constructed in anticipation of the arrival of German prisoners of war in and World War I ended, however, before the new hospital could be used.

Twenty additional buildings were constructed at the station by the late 79 Further studies are recommended to determine if this feature should be retained, even though it was established outside of the period of significance, through mortar analysis and aggregate analysis. 80 Tommy H. Jones, Fort Pulaski National Monument Quarantine Attendants Quarters Historic Structure Report, (Atlanta, GA: National Park Service, 9. 81 Brain J. Bitner, Shawn A. Gregoire, and Kyle F. Graham, Addendum to Fort Pulaski, HABS GA-2158, Historic American Building Survey (HABS), National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, undated, p. 17. 82 Meader, 15 FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 18) Additional improvements to the Quarantine Station were undertaken in totaling That following March, the Bureau of Public Health closed the station at Cockspur Island after a new headquarters was established in Savannah.83 Between and Fort Pulaski itself was in poor condition due to its abandonment. The War Department announced on July 17, that the federal government had selected Fort Pulaski as a candidate for national monument status under the American Antiquities Act of Efforts to preserve the fort were put on hold because of World War I and it was not until that funds became available to make improvements to the site and clear brush.84 On January 7, Congressman Charles G.

Edwards of Georgia introduced a bill proposing that Fort Pulaski be established as a national military monument and on October 15, President Calvin Coolidge established the fort as a national monument through a presidential proclamation.

At this time, the area was vastly overgrown and the only means of getting to the fort was by a boat from Lazaretto to a ruined landing point on the north channel, the North Pier.85 The federal government explored multiple financial and ownership transfer avenues for continued restoration of Fort Pulaski until it was transferred from the War Department to the Department of the Interior, NPS on April 24, Once in the hands of the funds from relief agencies including the Civilian Conservation Corps the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Public Works Administration (PWA) became available for the fort s rehabilitation.86 Though the CCC completed extensive rehabilitation work during the the North Pier was largely untouched during the campaign.

The CCC planned activities at Fort Pulaski in four phases: (1) getting a foothold on the island (2) expanding the territory and restoration, (3) making the area accessible and extending interpretational facilities, and (4) constructing permanent utilities/other permanent structures on the island and planning future educational facilities including. but not limited to, placing of guns, museum development, marking trees and shrubs for identification, and construction of trailside exhibits.

During the first phase in the CCC built a full camp on Cockspur Island and completed multiple projects including rebuilding five miles of the dyke; re- excavating the moat by moving cubic yards of mud that was then used to fill in marshy areas on the island; constructing 3.9 miles of permanent drainage ditches and canals on the island; raising the surface of the fort parade ground as it had settled almost 2 in the last 100 years; constructing temporary oyster shell 83 Ibid, 15. 84 Panamerican Consultants, Inc., 24. 85 Mr. Bischoff of the Wilmington Star-News to Thomas Purse Savannah Chamber of Commerce, Fort Pulaski being made a National Park, Letter, June 30, FOPU Archives. 86 Mr. Bischoff, Fort Pulaski being made a National Park. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 19) truck trails; constructing three, large, permanent and two, small, temporary tide gates; excavating the terreplein to repair the fort s load roof beneath; reconstructing two boat landings; digging a barge slip into the South Channel of the Savannah River; and replanting hundreds of small trees that were uprooted in a hurricane in September and during gales throughout the winter of In the CCC s second phase at Fort Pulaski between and the federal government expanded the national monument to include the quarantine station, which included ten frame buildings and approximately 100 acres. Subsequently, the CCC used the former quarantine station as an administrative and residential area.

Projects during this time focused on preparation for a parking area and causeway, repairs to the south bridge approach and abutments, continued repairs to the fort s parade grounds, brickwork, and other routine maintenance. Additionally, the CCC constructed a walkway of cutback asphalt and shell that connected the new parking area with the North Pier. The new CCC-built walkway followed the original historic walkway to the North Pier and connected to the adjacent walkways.88 The CCC s third phase of work at Fort Pulaski took place in and focused on visitor needs.

Opening the fort to automobile traffic more than quadrupled visitation from people in to people in The CCC s work not only included new infrastructure (parking area, road and monument entrance grading, and riprapping slopes) and continued projects on the fort (restoration of the south mortar battery, reconstruction of the hot shot furnace in the parade ground, and restoration of the southwest powder magazine), but also included the expansion of educational and interpretational projects through the remounting of historic ordnance, museum development, and the installation of signs, monuments, and markers. Additionally, the CCC planned to perform restoration work and construction of a north overlook on the North Pier.89 The CCC north overlook plans were never realized.

Many of the projects planned by the CCC during the third phase were not undertaken with the exception of the restoration of the southwest powder magazine. Within the fourth and final phase, the CCC planned for the installation of permanent utilities and constructed three residential buildings and one administration building, developed a fire protection system, installed a telephone system with underground lines and secondary power lines, and constructed a parking area at the North Pier.90 The final phase of CCC work was completed in 87 James W. Holland, Summary of Accomplishments of Civilian Conservation Corps, (Washington, National Park Service, 88 Ibid., 89 Ibid., 90 Holland, 22. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 20) May and about a year later, Congress ceased funding and the CCC dissolved.91 In November the Department of the Interior issued the Secretary of the Navy a special use permit to establish a Section Base on Cockspur Island. When the United States entered World War II (WWII) in December the DOI notified the NPS that the Navy would occupy Cockspur Island for the duration of the war. Consequently, Fort Pulaski was closed to the public.92 During WWII, only one maintenance employee remained at the national monument. When Fort Pulaski was officially reopened to the public October 11, the Navy was still in possession of Cockspur Island.

Lack of care during WWII due to inadequate staffing caused the condition of the fort to deteriorate walks were overgrown, ditches, and canals filled in. A severe hurricane on October 15, caused further damage to equipment and facilities. Additionally at the western end of the island, the Navy left behind a clutter of useless buildings, wharves (separate from the North Pier), towers, and trash dumps, a fouled-up water system, and an overhead maze of power and steam lines.

93 Between and the NPS revised the Master Plan for Fort Pulaski that included a proposal to construct an additional parking area near the demilune drawbridge, to reconstruct the hot shot furnace inside the fort, and to construct an overlook at the North Pier.94 Information on the condition of the North Pier when the NPS regained control of Fort Pulaski after WWII is not known. It is presumed that no repair work or maintenance took place at the North Pier during WWII and the years that followed until Mission 66 Era AD - AD) The NPS Mission 66 initiative modernized and reinvented the national park system after decades of decreased funding, deferred maintenance, and increased visitation.

The main goals of the Mission 66 program at Fort Pulaski included repairing structures to a safe condition, installing adequate facilities for operations and maintenance, establishing interpretive services, and obtaining sufficient funds and personnel for effective management, protection, interpretation, and maintenance of Fort Pulaski.95 91 Meader, 92 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 53. 93 National Park Service, Mission 66 For Fort Pulaski National Monument, FOPU Archives, 94 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 52. 95 National Park Service, Mission 66, 4. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 21) The Mission 66 improvements at Fort Pulaski also included the construction of an attractive overlook provided on the stone pier (North Pier) located on the north shore of Cockspur Island , at a cost of approximately NPS also recommended the reconstruction of the wooden L deck, historically located at the end of the North Pier, with large cypress timbers and equipped with a guard rail and benches to restore the North Pier. It is unknown when the historic L deck of the North Pier completely deteriorated.

The concept behind the overlook at the North Pier was to give visitors a comfortable vantage point at the end of the pier to view passing ships and the confluence of the Savannah River with the Atlantic Ocean.97 Additionally, NPS planned to install an ornamental mosaic of an orientation disk, composed of colored concrete, on the North Pier to show the trade route from Savannah to Trans-Atlantic Ports.98 A reconstruction of the wooden deck and installation of the mosaic did not occur. Clearing of vegetation began in while the park waited for a plan to detail the work at the outer end of the North Pier. Stabilization efforts took place in by filling in the earth between the granite side walls to bring the mole, the earthen area between the granite side walls, up to grade.

The work also included repairs to the granite and installation of a rock barrier at the end of the North Pier to protect the pier from wave actions. The barrier at the end of the North Pier involved the use of granite curbing, relocated from the gun racks on the terreplein of Fort Pulaski, to stabilize the end of the North Pier. On the terreplein, the arched granite units formed semi-circles around the guns. At the North Pier, the NPS changed the direction of the granite units to create a serpentine effect that is unlike the original pier materials.

Workers also completed soil filling, removed weeds, and established Bermuda grass on the approaches and in the vicinity of the pier.99 In the NPS marked the completion of the North Pier Overlook by the placement of benches on brick and flagstone platforms under a group of palmetto trees.100 Post Mission 66 Era AD Present) After the enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in January the NPS drafted a new master plan for Fort Pulaski that reflected a new emphasis on the protection of natural and cultural resources. Priorities included writing management documents and preparing an interpretive prospectus. The master plan also called for removing vegetation around the fort, constructing additional employee residences, expanding the picnic facilities, 96 Ibid., 6.

97 North Pier Overlook Project Housed at the FOPU Archives. 98 Ralston B. Lattimore, North Pier Overlook, Project Construction Program Proposal Form, January 12, FOPU Archives. 99 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 83. 100 National Park Service, Monthly Narrative Reports November July Superintendent to Chief, EODC, March 6, Completion Report North Pier Overlook, August 4, Fort Pulaski (FOPU) archives. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No.

GA-9 (Page 22) acquiring adjacent land, and working with the Army Corps of Engineers to resolve issues related to dredging practices, and shore erosion on Cockspur Island.101 Due to a century of uncontrolled forest growth within the fort s historic dike system at the north and south side of Cockspur Island, NPS began restoring viewsheds in the fort s dike system in particularly to reestablish the spatial connection between the fort and the Savannah River.

To accomplish the restoration, the NPS gradually removed approximately 30 acres of maritime forest southwest and north of the fort, an effort that was not completed until The NPS also cleared vistas between visitor use areas in the vicinity of the Battery Horace Hambright and the North Pier, which was completed in conjunction with the clearing of forest and brush from the workmen s village site.102 In the NPS Southeast Regional Office (SERO) and park management began Fort Pulaski s first General Management Plan Unlike the earlier Master Plans in which the primary focus was the anticipated development of the park s features, the General Management Plan honed in on long-range resource management and visitor service s needs, as well as park development goals.

NPS completed the GMP in and the preferred alternative focused on the fort s April period of significance for both the landscape and interpretive programs.103 By the erosion along the north shore of Cockspur Island was occurring at increasing rates of approximately several feet a year and began to reach the North Pier. To control the shoreline erosion and protect the integrity of the North Pier, the NPS permitted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Georgia Department of Natural Resources to create an revetment on the north shore of Cockspur Island in The revetment or soil deposited during the revetement ties into the existing island shore and slopes down northward into the river toward the shipping channel.

Additionally, dredge materials from biennial maintenance dredging of the Savannah River adjacent to the north shore of Cockspur began to be redeposited elsewhere instead of in an area north of the river.104 Today, the North Pier is still being used as a scenic overlook for the shipping channel and bird watching. To protect and maintain the North Pier, NPS and Fort Pulaski National Monument are working towards a proposed stabilization effort that includes removing damaging vegetation, replacing chinking, securing monolithic stones, and applying a rust prevention treatment for the existing iron 101 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 60. 102 Jock W. Beck, Assessment of Actions Having Effect on Cultural Resources, housed at FOPU Archives.

103 Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape, 104 US Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Pulaski Pier Protection Scope of Work , National Park Service, FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 23) components of the pier.105 Currently, this work does not have a projected start date.

Source document Quoted word for word from HALS GA-9. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Alexander, Lt. Alexander to Col. Totten. Lt. Alexander transmits operations report for January Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: Fort Pulaski (FOPU) Archives. February 6, Babcock. Maj. S. Babcock to Col. Gratiot. Maj. S. Babcock, Engr., submits detailed plans for his projected work on the proposed fort site, Cockspur Island. Letter. FOPU Archives. February 8, Babcock. Maj. Babcock to Gen. Gratiot. Maj. S. Babcock, Engr. Transmits report and sketch on state of operations for March, Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. April 8, Babcock. Maj. Babcock to General Charles Gratiot. Maj. S. Babcock, Engr. Transmits Quarterly estimate (2d Q, and for months of May and June. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. June 2, Beck, Jock W.

Assessment of Actions Having Effect on Cultural Resources. FOPU Archives, Bischoff. Mr. Bischoff of the Wilmington Star-News to Thomas Purse Savannah Chamber of Commerce. Fort Pulaski being made a National Park. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. June 30, Bitner, Brain J. Shawn A. Gregoire, and Kyle F. Graham. Addendum to Fort Pulaski. HABS GA-2158, Historic American Building Survey (HABS). National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, undated. Blunt, A.P. Col. A.P. Blunt Depot Quartermaster to Col. A.R. Eddy Chief Quartermaster of the Department of the South, Fort Pulaski, GA, November 11, Brewer, David M. and John E. Cornelison Jr. Archeological Testing and Remote Sensing Survey for the Graves of the Immortal Fort Pulaski National Monument.

Tallahassee: Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service, Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI). Fort Pulaski National Monument Landscape. United States Department of Interior, National Park Service. 105 National Park Service, Stabilize North Pier , Planning, Environment & Public Comment (PEPC) entry,

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No. GA-9 (Page 24) Fort Committee, Department of Archives and History. Georgia Forts. Georgia Magazine (Feb.-Mar. Gilmer, Capt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Capt. Gilmer request funds to recommence operations at Ft. Pulaski. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. January 19, Gilmer, Capt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Capt. Gilmer transmits annual progress report Pulaski. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. October 1, Gilmer, Lt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Department approves expenditures, Ft. Pulaski. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. June 20, Gilmer, Lt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Lt. Gilmer reports on Dike system on Cockspur Island. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. December 11, Gilmer, Lt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Operations Report, July Ft. Pulaski. Letter.

Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. August 2, Gilmer, Capt. Gilmer, Savannah GA to General Totten. Operations report, October, Fort Pulaski, November 7, Letter, November 7, Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives, Special Report Engineering Correspondence. Gilmer, Capt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Operations report, November Fort Pulaski. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. December 11, Gilmer, Capt. J.E. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Operations report, February Fort Pulaski. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. March 7, Gilmer, Capt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Operations report, June, Fort Pulaski. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. July 9, Gilmer, Capt. Gilmer to Gen. Totten. Operations report, October Fort Pulaski. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives.

November 11, Gillmore, Quincy A. Siege and Reduction of Fort Pulaski National Monument.1862; reprint. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 25) Historic American Building Survey (HABS). History of Fort Pulaski and Cockspur Island, Addendum to Fort Pulaski. United States Department of Interior. Washington HABS No. GA-2158. Holland, James W. Key to Our Province A Study of a Marsh Island of Georgia in the Mouth of the Savannah River, Site of Fort Pulaski National Monument. Washington, National Park Service. Holland, James W. Summary of Accomplishments of Civilian Conservation Corps. Washington, National Park Service. Houlihan, Capt. Houlihan to Lt. Col. C.A. Reynolds, Fort Pulaski, GA, February 25, Letter.

National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box Jameson John H. Archeological Issues at Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia Tallahassee: Southeast Archeological Center. National Park Service. Johnson, Michele Nicole. Sea Islands Hurricane." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jul 17, islands-hurricane/ Jones, Tommy H. Fort Pulaski National Monument Quarantine Attendants Quarters Historic Structure Report. Atlanta, GA.: National Park Service. Joslyn, Mauriel. Immortal Captives: The Story of 600 Confederate Officers and the United States Prisoner of War Policy. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Company. Kirkland, Talley. Conversation with Author (CLI). 1 November Lanford, C. Bowie. North Pier HABS Inventory Form. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. Lattimore, Ralston B.

Fort Pulaski National Monument. Historical Handbook Series No. 18. Washington National Park Service. Lattimore, Ralston B. North Pier Overlook. Project Construction Program Proposal Form. January 12, Low, James. Lt. James P. Low to Lt. Col. C.A. Reynolds. Letter. April 2, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 26) Martin, John. Ordnance Sergeant John H. Martin to Adjutant General USA. Letter. Fort Pulaski, GA, September 30, Mansfield, Capt. Mansfield to Gen. Charles Gratiot. Capt. Mansfield transmits his annual reports Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. November 19, Mansfield, Capt. Mansfield to Col. Totten, Capt. Mansfield transmits project of operations, March 18, Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives.

Special Reports Engineering Correspondence. March 18, Mansfield, Capt. Mansfield to Col. Joseph G. Totten. Capt. Mansfield transmits his annual reports. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. October 22, Mansfield, Capt. Mansfield to Col. Totten. Operations report, March Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. April 5, Mansfield, Mansfield to Gratiot. Engr. Mansfield, transmits report on inventory of materials, at work on Cockspur Island. Letter. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. March 8, Meader, J. Faith. Fort Pulaski National Monument Administrative History. Atlanta, GA: National Park Service. National Park Service. Completion Report North Pier Overlook. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. August 4, National Park Service.

Mission 66 For Fort Pulaski National Monument. FOPU Archives. National Park Service. Monthly Narrative Reports November July Superintendent to Chief EODC. Fort Frederica, Georgia: FOPU Archives. March 6, National Park Service. North Pier Overlook Project FOPU Archives. National Park Service. Stabilize North Pier Planning, Environment & Public Comment (PEPC) entry. Panamerican Consultants, Inc. Battery Horace Hambright Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia Historic Structure Report. Atlanta, GA: National Park Service. FORT PULASKI NORTH PIER HALS No. GA-9 (Page 27) Reynolds, C.A. Lt. Col. C.A. Reynolds to Maj. Gen. R.O. Tyler, April 10, Letter. National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box Sholes, A.E, comp. A Chronical History of Savannah. Savannah: Morning News Print.

Spalding, Phinizy. Spain and the Coming of the English. Pt. 1 of A History of Georgia. Ed. Kenneth Coleman. Athens: University of Georgia Press. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Fort Pulaski Pier Protection Scope of Work. National Park Service. Williford, Glen. American Seacoast Defense Sites of the Part II Delaware River San Francisco. Coast Defense Journal, Coast Defense Study Group, Volume 21, Issue 4. November Wilson, D. D. Wilson to Lt. James. P. Low. Letter. Fort Pulaski, GA, March 28, National Archives I (Washington, RG 92, Entry Box Young, Rogers. A Connecticut Yankee on the Georgia Coast: The Engineering Epic of Fort Pulaski, National Park Service, Young, Rogers W. Robert E. Lee and Fort Pulaski. Popular Series 11. Washington, National Park Service. Young, Rogers W.

The Construction of Fort Pulaski. The Georgia Historical Quarterly 20.