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In 1849, the
Army's newly appointed commander of the Pacific,
General Persifer F. Smith moved his headquarters to
land which was donated to the government by Semple
and Larkin at his request. Three installations were
established, each under a different section of the
army. The first of which was the home of two
companies of the 2nd Infantry under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel Silas Casey which eventually
became known as the Benicia Barracks. It occupied
nearly 99 1/2 acres. The first buildings on the
site were frame structures brought by ship from the
east coast. |
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By 1856, there
were officers quarters, soldiers quarters, office
and guard house, the hospital and a pair of stables
surrounding a rectangular parade ground. This
picture taken around 1860 is one of the earliest
known photo's of the arsenal showing the store
houses, barracks and the roof of the powder
magazine. |
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In 1851, Captain Charles P. Stone was appointed
to the head of ordnance for the Pacific Coast and
ordered to select a site for an arsenal. He found
Benicia to be ideal both due to its excellent
climate and its protected position on the strait.
In the spring of 1852, the army named the new
installation one of the five major permanent
arsenals in the US. There were many problems in the
early days; land title issues, lack of water and
lack of skilled labor. The first powder magazine
was constructed in 1851 and was a forty by twenty
foot wooden frame structure. Stone built a few other
frame buildings on the site, some at his own
expense, but they were not substantial and were soon
demolished when the permanent buildings were built
starting in 1853. The first permanent arsenal
structures that were built were the two storage
buildings with the small engine house between them,
which now houses the Benicia Historical Museum. Go
to the
Museum Complex Buildings Page to learn
more about them. |
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second installation that was established was a supply depot
for the Quartermasters Corps. Overflowing warehouses and
expiring leases in San Francisco made a permanent location
desperately needed. The new depot was established in 1849
in the southern portion of the Benicia reservation along the
shoreline. This land was taken over by the arsenal in 1858. |
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