Watertown Arsenal, Building No. 142, Arsenal Street, Watertown

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS MASS,9-WATO,6E-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Built in as a replacement for an earlier sentry house at the South Gate, one of two main gates, the Sentry Station is significant as the only historic guard house at Watertown Arsenal. It is a contributing element in the Watertown Arsenal Historic District which is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. WATERTOWN ARSENAL, BUILDING NO. 142 HABS No. MA-1009-E (Page 2) PART

Descriptive Information

Building Sentry Station is located at the South Gate at the intersection of Talcott Avenue and North Beacon Street with its facade facing west. The nine ft. by eight one-by-one bay, one-story, red brick building was constructed in and is essentially unaltered. It rests on a concrete slab foundation and rises to a slate-sheathed, slightly flared hip roof with projecting eaves, a copper finial, and copper gutters. Downspouts have been removed. The red brick walls are laid up in running bond with corner pilasters, a soldier course water table, and a single corbel course at the top and bottom of the recessed bay on each elevation. The single entrance, facing west, has a wood door with two lower panels and four-light glazing in the upper half, topped with a soldier course lintel.

A metal gooseneck lamp overhangs the entrance. The three other elevations each contain one nine-light, fixed sash, metal frame windows with brick lug sills and soldier course lintels. The interior of the building consists of a single room with painted concrete floor and brick walls. A small, wood, slant-top desk is attached to the north wall at the east corner, and a rounded, wood shelf is set in the northwest corner. PART II HISTORICAL INFORMATION Building 142 was built in as the Sentry Station for the South Gate. It replaced an earlier, wood- frame, Gothic Revival style sentry station that was situated on the opposite side (west side) of Talcott Avenue. Its architecture illustrates a picturesque aspect of the Arsenal's early-twentieth-century design.

The Sentry Station stands in proximity to the last extant granite-post and wrought-iron-fence entrance gate topped by light fixtures, and, although no longer used, is the only historic guard house surviving at Watertown Arsenal. PART Ill SOURCES OF INFORMATION A. Plans and Drawings Army Materials Technology Laboratory, Facilities Engineering, Watertown, Massachusetts. No drawings were found for this building. B. Historic Views Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division, Waltham, Massachusetts. Photographs (5 volumes: to Army Materials Technology Laboratory, Library, Watertown, Massachusetts. Foster Notebooks, files, and historic photographs (nineteenth century to Army Materials Technology Laboratory, Photo Lab, Watertown, Massachusetts. Bibliography Adams, Virginia H.

Historic American Engineering Record Addendum to Watertown Arsenal: HAER Nos. MA-20-C, D. E. F, G. and Documentation for Watertown Arsenal: HAER Nos. MA-20-R, S. T, U # 601 ). Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division, Waltham, MA and WATERTOWN ARSENAL, BUILDING NO. 142 HABS No. MA-1009-E (Page 3) the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Baylies, Libby 1 982 Watertown Arsenal (Gun Carriage Manufacturing Complex) Draft National Register of Historic Places Nomination. Unpublished typescript. Watertown: Army Materials Technology Laboratory, Library.

Burns, Libby Baylies and Betsey Bahr Historic American Buildings Survey of the United States Armv Materials and Mechanics Research Center. Watertown, Massachusetts HAER No. MA-20. Washington, Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Dickson, Tracy C. History of Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, Massachusetts. Unpublished typescript. Watertown: Army Materials Technology Laboratory, Library. Dobbs, Judy A History of the Watertown Arsenal Watertown: Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center. E.G. & G. Idaho, Inc. USATHAMA (U.S. Army Toxic and Hazardous Materials Agency) Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection for the Army Materials Technology Laboratory. Idaho Falls: Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.

Foster, Laurence S. U.S. Army Materials Research Agency Annual Historical Summary, 1 July -30 June Unpublished manuscript. Watertown: Technical Information Center, AMRA, 15 August Mather, John History of the Watertown Arsenal. Unpublished typescript. Foster Notebook. Watertown: Army Materials Technology Laboratory, Library. For additional sources, consult Burns and Bahr previously submitted to the Library of Congress as HABS/HAER documentation for Watertown Arsenal, HAER No. MA-20. PART IV PROJECT INFORMATION The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (PAL Inc.) was retained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division to prepare HABS and HAER documentation for the Watertown Arsenal. The documentation was conducted in April, May, and June by the PAL Inc.

project team including Virginia H. Adams, Senior Architectural Historian, Catherine Vieth, Assistant Architectural Historian, and- Maureen A. Cavanaugh, Preservation Planner. The large format photography was completed in May and June by Robert Brewster of Warren Jagger Photography, Inc., Providence, Rhode Island. WATERTOWN ARSENAL, BUILDING NO. 142 HABS No. MA-1009-E (Page 4) LOCATION MAP (USGS BOSTON SOUTH, MAI Scale: 1 WATERTOWN ARSENAL, BUILDING NO. 142 HABS No. MA-1009-E (Page 5) LOCATION MAP WITHIN WATERTOWN ARSENAL (Source: E.G. & G. USATHAMA report, N I -@- ,, e ., m , ' - . i .. J'UT -- WATERTOWN ARSENAL, BUILDING NO. 142 HABS No. MA-I 009-E (Page 6) FLOOR PLAN SKETCH ~ ~ ~ 8' ~ c:a I SOUTH GATE