Fort Rodman Military Reservation, Engineer's Storehouse, At southern end of main access road, north of Battery Barton-Walcott, New Bedford

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The former engineers storehouse at Fort Rodman is unusual because it is one of the few buildings on the site that was not constructed according to a standardized plan. Description: The present building is one-story, two-by-five bays, has a gable roof covered with slate, a stucco exterior, and a cement foundation. There is a double door in a gable end and, next to it, a narrow segmental-headed door. On the left-hand side of the building are three tall narrow windows with cement sills, a door, and another window. At the back is a small shed-roofed ell and an exterior chimney, and on the right-hand side five windows, one of them cemented in. The Army's completion report and photo indicate that this building was originally brick, so the stucco is clearly a later addition.

The photo also shows that originally there was a segmental arch over the double door in the gable end as well as one over the single door; the wide arch was probably covered over when the building was stuccoed. History: The Engineer's Storehouse was built in apparently not according to a standardized plan, for no plan number is listed in the appropriate space on the completion report. The building was first used to store underwater mines that were part of the Endicott Period harbor defense. A map shows a railroad spur running into the south end of the building; this was off a track running between the wharf and a building to the west where the control cable for the mines was stored.

The Engineer's Storehouse apparently continued to be used for storing explosives: on the completion report it is designated "Artillery Engineers Storeroom" and in it was used for ordinance; by however, the building was being utilized as a classroom and today is used for storage. Source: Architectural Inventory Form, on file at Massachusetts Historical Commis- sion, Boston, MA.