FORT BENNING, MAIN POST, BACHELOR OFFICERS HABS GA …lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ga/ga1000/ga1097/data/ga1097data.pdf(BOQ) constructed in 1934. 2. Architect: Construction Division

PHOTOGRAPHS

WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA

HABS GA-2430HABS GA-2430

FORT BENNING, MAIN POST, BACHELOR OFFICERSQUARTERSRichardson CircleFort Benning Military ReservationChattahoochee CountyGeorgia

HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEYSOUTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE

National Park ServiceU.S. Department of the Interior

100 Alabama St. NWAtlanta, GA 30303

HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY

FORT BENNING, MAIN POST, BACHELOR OFFICERS QUARTERS HABS No. GA-2430 Location: Richardson Circle, Main Post, Fort Benning, Chattahoochee County, Georgia

The complex is located at latitude: 32.364663 longitude: -84.955476. The coordinate represents the center point of the roof of Building No. 37 and was obtained from Google Earth 2012 imagery. The USGS quadrangle map is Fort Benning, Georgia-Alabama, 1955, photo-revised 1993.

Present Owner: U.S. Department of the Army Present Use: Administration Significance: Three identical bachelor officers quarters (BOQs) (Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38)

were constructed in 1934 as part of the permanent building construction program at Fort Benning completed between 1927 and 1935. The three BOQs were identified as contributing resources to the National Register-eligible Fort Benning Main Post Historic District (Fort Benning 2006: Appendix B). The architecture of the BOQs contributes to the overall architectural cohesiveness of Fort Benning, an installation that is an outstanding example of military architecture, community planning, and landscape architecture for the period 1919 to 1949. The post also is significant for its association with the modernization and development of the nation’s military from 1919 to 1949 (Perry 2006).

Historians: Katherine Grandine, Senior Historian, and Benjamin Riggle, Historian

R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc., December 2008 Project Information: This documentation was prepared to mitigate the effects of renovations

undertaken to Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38 as part of the transformation of Fort Benning into a Maneuver Center of Excellence under the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005. The Fort Benning Historic Properties Component of the Integrated Cultural Resource Management Plan for Certification under the Army Alternate Procedures for Historic Properties in lieu of 36 CFR Part 800 for Section 106 compliance of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, in effect since February 2006 states that, when renovations occur that do not meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, treatment will take the form of documentation in accordance with the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey and/or the Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) or similar equivalent documentation (Fort Benning 2006:73). The project scope required intensive historic and photo-documentation of one representative example of the BOQs. Building No. 36 (HABS No. GA-2430-A) was selected for photo-documentation.

FORT BENNING, MAIN POST, BACHELOR OFFICERS QUARTERS HABS No. GA-2430

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Part I: Historical Information

A. Physical History 1. Date of erection: Building Nos. 36 (HABS No. GA 2430-A), 37 (HABS No. GA 2430-B), and 38 (HABS No. GA 2430-C) are three identical bachelor officers quarters (BOQ) constructed in 1934. 2. Architect: Construction Division of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, standardized plans 6425-282 through 294. 3. Original and subsequent owners, occupants, uses: The buildings are owned by the U.S. Department of the Army. Each BOQ was constructed to house eighteen bachelor officers. The buildings were adapted to administrative use in 2008. 4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: Algernon Blair of Montgomery, Alabama, served as the general contractor who oversaw construction of the BOQs. The Fort Benning constructing quartermaster complimented the company for their workmanship and cooperation on the project (NARA, RG 77 Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:95). Algernon Blair was born in August 1873 in Brooklyn, New York. His family moved to Macon, Georgia, in 1880. Blair graduated from high school in Macon in 1888 with honors (Owen 1921:158). Following graduation, he began to work as a contractor and builder, focused primarily on the construction of government buildings in the South. In 1897, he was awarded the contract to build the courthouse in Screven County, Georgia. The courthouse was constructed of brick and designed by Lewis F. Goodrich (Caldwell 2001:551). During the period 1920 to 1940, Blair and his firm were retained by the U.S. government to construct military buildings and several civic buildings. Military buildings constructed by Algernon Blair included the National Guard Cantonment at Fort Sheridan, a post chapel at Fort McClellan, Building No. 800 (Austin Hall) at Maxwell Army Airfield (now Maxwell Air Force Base [AFB]), and Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38 at Fort Benning (Owen 1921:158; The Anniston Star 1935; National Register of Historic Places database). During World War II, the Algernon Blair firm constructed a prisoner of war camp near Aliceville, Alabama. This facility comprised 400 one-story, wood-frame buildings to house prisoners and the administrative buildings necessary to operate the camp (Cronenberg 1995:96). Blair and his company are credited as the architect for at least sixteen buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places (National Register database). Thirteen buildings are post offices, two are courthouses, and the final building is Building No. 800 (Austin Hall) at Maxwell AFB. The company founded by Algernon Blair remains in business and is currently an international architectural and construction firm.


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Subcontractors for the BOQ construction project at Fort Benning were hired from several southern states. The roofing contractor was Hinkle Brothers from Birmingham, Alabama; the electrical contractor was Miller Electric Company, from Jacksonville, Florida; the plumbing and heating contractor was L.J. Lehotay from Opelika, Alabama; and, the waterproofing contractor was Guaranteed Waterproofing Company from Greensboro, North Carolina. The Columbus Sand & Gravel Company from Columbus, Georgia, was responsible for grading. The J.R. Plastering Company from Columbus, Georgia, completed the plastering and stucco, while Brown-Rogers W.P. & Paint Company from Birmingham, Alabama, was the painting contractor (NARA RG 77 Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:87). Laborers were retained through local unions or the local re-employment office maintained at Fort Benning. Skilled laborers earned $1.00 per hour, while unskilled laborers were paid $0.40 (NARA RG 77 Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:92-93). Construction materials and fittings were shipped from a wide area. Several materials, including sand, gravel, form lumber, fire clay, and fire brick, were procured from suppliers in Columbus, Georgia. Limestone was shipped from Bedford, Indiana. Marble thresholds were shipped from Knoxville, Tennessee, while the marble mantels came from Marietta, Georgia. Building parts and fittings represented many regions of the United States. The following is a selection:

Slab shingle from Birmingham, Alabama Roofing nails from Baltimore, Maryland Downspouts from Milwaukee, Wisconsin Steel window frames from Detroit, Michigan Glazing from Cleveland, Ohio Radiators from New York, New York Bathroom fittings and fixtures from Crane, Indiana Light fixtures from New York, New York Combination ceiling fixture and fans from St. Louis, Missouri Telephone outlets in each living room from Bridgeport, Connecticut (NARA RG

77 Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:88-92).

5. Original plans and construction: The contract to construct three BOQs for $178,260.00 was awarded in November 1933. The BOQs at Fort Benning were accepted as completed on September 7, 1934, by Carl H. Jabelonsky, Fort Benning’s constructing quartermaster (NARA RG 77 Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:87, 95-96, 85). The drawings were Quartermaster Corps standardized plans 6425-282 through 294 (Fort Benning scanned drawing archive) and were supplied initially by the constructing quartermaster at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama (Fort Benning scanned drawing archive 4029F). The drawings from Maxwell AFB depicted the same architectural style as the BOQs constructed at Fort Benning, but with a different room configuration. The


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Maxwell AFB drawings housed sixteen officers and contained a kitchen and dining room, a central lobby, and a common lounge on the first floor. As constructed at Fort Benning, the standardized BOQ plan was modified to accommodate eighteen officers. The space containing the kitchen and dining room depicted on the Maxwell AFB drawings was redesigned to contain two additional officer units; the kitchen/dining area was deleted from the drawings (Fort Benning drawing 6425-282 scanned file sav22103-2; NARA RG 77 Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:79). As detailed in the 1934 completion report, the first floor had ten residential units, while the second floor had eight units. Each unit contained a bedroom, a living room, and a private bathroom. The first floor featured a common lounge and a lobby (NARA RG 77 Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:79-85). No dining or kitchen facilities were provided in the building, so the bachelor officers probably dined in the nearby officers’ mess/club. 6. Alterations and additions: Each BOQ has been altered over time. Specific alterations are detailed in the individual building reports.

B. Historical Context Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38 were constructed in 1934 as identical BOQs. The buildings were completed during a major building program at Fort Benning to provide barracks for enlisted personnel and family housing for commissioned and non-commissioned officers. The installation construction program was part of a larger, nationwide military construction program that the Army initiated during the mid-1920s and continued during the 1930s as part of the Federal government’s efforts to put civilians to work during the Depression. Camp Benning was established at the end of September 1918 just before the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. The mission of the new installation was to serve as the home of the U.S. Army Infantry School. Initially, the post was a temporary cantonment occupying leased land near Columbus, Georgia. During 1919, the installation was moved to its present location; it became a permanent Army installation by order of the War Department in 1922 and has since grown to encompass approximately 182,000 acres. Development at Fort Benning between 1928 and 1935 was influenced by several factors. The major impetus behind the installation’s growth was the presence of the infantry school. This institution was expanded substantially following World War I and became the Army’s primary training school through which lessons learned by the infantry during World War I were incorporated into the training curriculum to improve professionalism of infantry officers. A second factor was the need for permanent buildings on post that corresponded to a need to put people back to work during the Depression of the 1930s. A third factor was the Quartermaster Corps oversight of the permanent building program. The Quartermaster Corps sought to to


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create unified installation plans by applying contemporary design and planning concepts. They also developed sets of standardized building plans in select architectural styles to ensure that each installation exhibited architectural cohesiion. In 1927, when then Lt. Colonel George Marshall arrived at Fort Benning as assistant commandant, approximately 600 officers were assigned to the post. Of these, 450 officers were students at the infantry school. The remaining 150 officers served as instructors at the school, commanded the regiment of 3,500 troops or other Army units stationed at the post, or supported post operations and management (Stelpflug and Hyatt 2007:70-71). By the end of Marshall’s five-year assignment at the infantry school, the permanent construction program to house this complement of officers stationed at Fort Benning was underway. The Army’s permanent construction program, which was enacted in 1926, initially funded the construction of barracks, housing for commissioned and non-commissioned officers, and hospitals. The first monies, totaling over $7 million, were expended in 1927. Construction was targeted at those installations that the Army desired to retain permanently, but that had severe deficiencies. Fort Benning was identified as possessing insufficient housing for enlisted personnel and officers and received funding in 1927 to construct the first cuartel, a large barracks that housed enlisted personnel. Projects to construct housing for commissioned and non-commissioned officers followed. Between 1930 and 1935, permanent quarters constructed at Fort Benning included 168 company officer single-family houses, sixty-seven field officer single-family houses, 105 non-commissioned officer single-family houses, and one single-family house for the assistant commandant. In addition to individual housing units, thirty apartment buildings, each containing four units, were constructed to house married officers attending the infantry school. The construction of three BOQs (Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38), each housing eighteen bachelor officers, completed the range of officer housing available at Fort Benning in 1935 (Fort Benning 2006 Appendix B). Army construction funds for projects at Fort Benning were augmented through monies from the Works Projects Administration (WPA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA) (Stelpflug and Hyatt 2007:95). The Construction Division of the Quartermaster Corps administered the Army’s nationwide construction program. Led by Major General B.F. Cheatham, Quartermaster General, the Construction Division assembled an impressive group of military and civilian architects, engineers, planners, designers, and landscape architects to oversee the program during the late 1920s and 1930s. The first Chief of the Engineering Division of the Construction Service was Lt. Col. Francis B. Wheaton. Luther M. Leisenring, formerly with the firm of architect Cass Gilbert, became Supervising Architect in the Office of the Quartermaster General in 1937. George B. Ford, a noted urban planner, was retained as a consultant to the Quartermaster Corps to review installation plans. Ford combined efficient, workable designs with planning concepts used in the City Beautiful and Garden City movements. The goal of the professional team was to develop efficient, cohesive, and pleasant environments within reasonable expenditures (Goodwin & Associates, Inc., 1995:V1:207).


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George Ford expressed his planning philosophy in a 1929 issue of The Quartermaster Review. Although he praised the efficiency of the design of traditional military posts, Ford criticized the use of austere symmetry in post design. "However, it has been a well-known tradition of the Army in the past that whereas Army buildings and layouts must be practical, nevertheless they should look military. There seemed to be a feeling that any building or layout that was not foursquare and austere was effeminate and unworthy of the Army." Ford advocated creating useful and aesthetically pleasing environments, using vistas and irregular lines (Ford 1929:19-21). Ford also commented specifically on challenges presented by the layout adopted at Fort Benning.

Fort Benning, in Georgia, just grew, like Topsy. The permanent buildings seem to be scattered at random all over the post. As first glance it seemed to be hopeless to try to work out any orderly arrangement of the existing permanent buildings with the necessary future ones. However, patient study, plus imagination, showed that it was possible to work out an effective disposition and grouping of the buildings, leaving the barracks where they are now to the west, the non-commissioned officers’ sets to the north of them, with the officers’ quarters scattered on the hillcrests to the north and east, the general buildings all being near the center on the main parade (Ford 1929:21).

The Quartermaster Corps developed new standardized building plans to accommodate the large number of houses under construction at many Army installations across the United States. The Quartermaster Corps utilized standardized plans since the Civil War to construct buildings to accommodate large numbers of personnel in temporary mobilization camps. Standardized plans also were used during a period of Army construction at permanent posts following the Civil War. Standardized designs for buildings typically found on military installations allowed constructing quartermasters to control design parameters and construction costs. House designs, in particular, were standardized to allow for ease of replication on military installations. The standardized plans developed during the 1930s were designed to meet contemporary housing standards, to respond to local climate conditions, and to reflect local architectural history. Georgian Colonial Revival was used for installations from New England to Virginia, in the Midwest, and in the Pacific Northwest. Spanish Colonial Revival styles were used in the South, Western Plains, Southwest, and California. Other regional designs, constructed as appropriate, included French Provincial in the Gulf States and English Tudor Revival (“Housing the Army” 1931:13; Wheaton 1928).

Family housing typically was the most numerous building type on military installations. Prior to World War II, family housing was provided only to commissioned and non-commissioned officers. Enlisted personnel were assigned to barracks, which typically housed the highest numbers of personnel. The Army’s policy of providing housing based on rank resulted in the evolution of the BOQ as a separate building type to house officers who were either unmarried or stationed at an installation without families (Goodwin & Associates, Inc., 1995: Vol. 2:307-308).


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Bachelor officers quarters evolved as a distinct building type on Army posts during the 1880s and 1890s when the Army began to consolidate troops into larger, permanent posts. In 1891, the Quartermaster Department issued its first standardized plan for the BOQ. The typical BOQ contained individual sleeping rooms and sitting rooms, a shared dining room, a reading room, a kitchen, and recreation rooms for activities such as billiards and cards. Early Quartermaster standard plans had Victorian ornamentation. During the first decade of the twentieth century, BOQ designs were revised to reflect the Colonial Revival style (Goodwin & Associates, Inc. 1995: Vol 2:307ff; NARA RG77, Standard Plans). BOQs typically were located near the parade ground or near the officer family housing area. The standardized design of the BOQ was updated during the 1930s to provide each officer with an individual living room, bedroom, and private bath. Kitchen facilities typically were provided in the building (Chambers 1928:25). The BOQs constructed during the 1930s reflected the prevailing architectural styles used by the Quartermaster Corps: the Georgian Colonial Revival and the Spanish/Mission Colonial Revival styles. At a few installations, BOQs were designed in special regional architectural styles. The BOQs at Fort Benning are examples of what was described in a contemporary article as “French provincial.” This style was characterized by high pitched roofs, French doors, and casement windows (“Housing the Army” 1931:13). This style also was used for a BOQ constructed at Barksdale Army Airfield, now Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. The standardized plan was used again for the BOQ constructed at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, and adapted for the construction of the three BOQs (Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38) at Fort Benning, Georgia. Although the BOQ was a standard building type at permanent Army cantonments, a typical cantonment generally needed only one of this building type to house relatively few officers. BOQs were often either larger in size or greater in number at installations with larger officer populations. More unmarried officers generally were stationed at Army Air Corps installations because pilots were officers. In the case of Fort Benning, three BOQs were constructed due to the large numbers of bachelor officers assigned to attend or to teach at the infantry school. Part II: Architectural Information

A. General statement

1. Architectural character: Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38 are two stories finished in stucco designed in the French Provincial style. Each building adopts a U-shaped footprint comprising a two-story main block with one-story projecting wings on the west façade. 2. Condition of fabric: The overall condition of the buildings at the time of the research was good.


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B. Description of Exterior 1. Overall dimensions: The overall building dimensions are 143’-8” x 71’10” with a height of 34’-8”. The main block measures 143’-8” x 39’-6” with nine bays along the front and twenty-one bays along the rear wall. The ends are three bays wide. The front wings measure 26’-5” x 32’-4” with two bays on the front and three bays on each side. 2. Foundations: The raised foundation is constructed of poured concrete and incorporates a concrete water table. 3. Walls: The exterior walls are structural clay tile finished with stucco. The scored structural clay tiles measure 4” x 12” and 12” x 12”. All building corners are stuccoed and scored to resemble quoins. The center bays of the front and the rear walls of the main block feature two-story, slightly projecting bays with stuccoed quoins. Each projecting bay is capped by a broken pediment with returns. In the center of the pediment on the front façade is a small stuccoed decorative indented oval. The contrast between the wall planes and the corners is heightened through paint colors. The exterior walls are painted light beige, while the foundation, quoins, and porch pillars are painted dark tan. 4. Structural system, framing: The buildings are constructed of structural clay tile. The attics over the main blocks and the wings are open to provide storage for occupants’ possessions. The attics have exposed wood beams and framing around the dormers. The arched roof dormers are framed with tongue and groove boards. 5. Porches, stoops, balconies, porticoes: A 10’-0”-wide, two-story arcade spans the entire west façade and provides direct access to the residential units. The arcade openings are defined by two-story piers that are scored and stuccoed to resemble ashlar. The openings along the first-floor of the arcade are capped with slightly segmental arches ornamented with stone scrolls with the exception of center bay housing the porch and exterior stair. The second-story arcade openings are rectangular with the exception of the center bay. The center bay on the second floor has a wide stuccoed segmental arched surround ornamented by a stone scroll. The arcade openings on the first and second stories are spanned by ornamental aluminum metal railings. The arcade floors are tiled with 6” smooth red clay tile. The first floor of the arcade is accessed from the center bay and the sides by short flights of concrete steps. All steps have ornamental metal railings. The central entry on the west façade of the main block is sheltered under a one-story porch that projects beyond the arcade. The flat porch roof is supported on paired wood pillars with simple Doric capitals set on simple bases. The flat porch roof is capped by a narrow balcony with an ornamental metal balustrade.


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6. Chimneys: Two chimney stacks project from the rear roof plane. A tall, wide brick chimney located south of the center bay contains the flue to vent the building’s heating system. A smaller brick chimney located north of the center vents the fireplace in the common lounge. All chimneys have stone coping. 7. Openings a. Doorways and doors: The main entry is centered in the west façade and leads from the arcade into the first-floor lobby of the main block. The doorway contains a set of double wood doors; each door has two raised wood panels. The doors are set in a wide wood molded surround. Two sets of paired French doors also access the first floor common lounge from the arcade. The central doorway on the second floor of the arcade contains paired French doors. Each door contains ten lights over a single wood panel. The doorway is framed in a wide stucco surround with a shallow segmental arch. Paired French doors comprising ten lights over single wood panels originally provided access to the residential units. Many entry doors have been replaced with modern metal doors. Paired French doors also were installed along the sides of the main block, the fronts of the projecting wings, and along the first floor of the rear corresponding to the common lounge. The French doors provided cross ventilation; the base of each opening was blocked by an ornamental metal railing. All French door openings are ornamented with stuccoed surrounds. Original drawings indicated that all thresholds for the exterior doors were metal. b. Windows and shutters: The building incorporates two sizes of windows, which reflected the interior plan. Eight-over-eight-light windows were installed in the living spaces, while six-over-six-light windows were installed in the bathrooms. All windows are wood-frame, double-hung sash units. The windows are recessed into deep rectangular openings and defined by quarter cove wood moldings and stone sills. The windows in the side walls of the front-projecting wings are installed over wood panels with ornamental metal railings. A wood-frame, twelve-light oval window occupies the pediment on the rear wall. The upper window sash is fixed while the lower sash is hinged in the middle. Selected openings, primarily on the exterior walls of the front wings and side walls of the main block, originally were outfitted with louvered wood shutters. All shutters have been removed.


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8. Roof a. Shape, covering: The steeply-pitched hipped roof is clad with flat, scored, clay tiles that are colored in variegated shades of reddish clay, from pale to dark red. b. Cornice, eaves: The eaves are ornamented by a wood cornice. Metal hanging gutters are installed on all exterior walls; downspouts are visible on the front and rear walls. c. Dormers, cupolas, towers: The roof over the main block has six dormers in the west side, four dormers in the east side, and one each in the north and south sides. Each dormer in the main roof is arched and contains an arch-topped, six-over-six-light, double-hung sash window. The roofs over the wings feature a single round dormer in each roof plane. These dormers contain round nine-light windows; the center panes are operable. The front faces of all dormers are finished with copper cladding. The dormers light the full attics over the main block and wings.

C. Description of Interior 1. Floor plans: Each BOQ was designed to house eighteen officers. The first floor of the main block contained a lobby hallway with stair, a common lounge, and six residential units. Eight units were located on the second floor. Each one-story wing contained two units (Fort Benning drawing 6425-282 scanned file sav22103-2). Each residential unit was designed with a living room, a bedroom with a closet and a wardrobe, and a bathroom accessed from the bedroom. In the main block, the units measured 16’-0” x 27’-0”. The living room and the bedroom were separated by a doorway. In general, units in the main block were not interconnected, with the exception of the two end units on the first and second floors (Fort Benning drawing 6425-282 scanned file sav22103-2). Each wing contained two interconnected residential units that measured 12’-5” x 32’-4”. Access to these units was directly into the living room. A short hall under an arched opening led to the bedroom. The bathroom was accessed from the bedroom and was smaller in size than the bathrooms in the main block. The two units in each wing shared an interior door between the living rooms (Fort Benning drawing 6425-282 scanned file sav22103-2). A partial basement was located under the lobby and the first unit south of the lobby. The basement was accessed from the interior and directly from the outside through a rear doorway. The basement originally contained the boiler and a half bathroom.


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2. Stairways: The first floor lobby occupied the middle bay of the main block and contained an open stairway that rose from the first floor to the attic. The stairway comprised two flights of stairs with a half landing between each floor. The floor of the lobby, the stair treads, and the stringer were finished in terrazzo. The stair balustrade was wrought iron with an arched pattern. The wrought-iron newel post was capped by a turned brass urn according to the drawings; the ornamental urn was not in place in June 2008 (Fort Benning drawing 6425-287 scanned file sav22103-7). The basement located under the lobby was accessed from the interior through a doorway that opened onto a single flight of concrete steps leading down to the basement. The stair had a metal pipe rail. 3. Flooring: The lobby floor was finished in terrazzo. Hardwood flooring was installed in the common lounge and in the officer units. Each bathroom originally had terrazzo flooring. The basement had a poured concrete floor. 4. Wall and ceiling finish: The walls and ceilings in the lobby were finished in plaster. The walls and ceiling in the common lounge were finished in rough plaster. The lounge and the lobby featured wood baseboards and wood ceiling moldings. The interior finishes of the officer units had smooth plaster walls and ceilings. The officer units also had 6” molded wood baseboards. 5. Openings a. Doorways and doors: The first floor lobby located in the middle bay of the main block was accessed through paired wood paneled doors from the hallway. The common lounge was accessed from the lobby through one set of paired French doors. The common lounge was ventilated by four sets of French doors on the rear wall. The interior doorways had molded wood surrounds. Original drawings indicated that the thresholds for all interior doors were marble. b. Windows: The windows had molded wood surrounds. 6. Decorative features and trim: The common lounge featured a fireplace with marble hearth and surround with a classically inspired wood mantel. The fireplace was flanked by built-in shelving and cupboards. A telephone alcove was located at the rear of the lobby. The alcove was accessed through an arched opening. The alcove featured a built-in shelf for a telephone. The original drawings indicated that a water cooler also was installed in the first floor lobby (Fort Benning drawing 6425-282 scanned file sav22103-2).


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Each residential unit contained a clothes closet outfitted with two shelves and a clothes pole. The original drawings indicated that each bedroom also had a built-in wardrobe. A metal medicine cabinet originally was provided over each sink (Fort Benning drawing 6425-282 scanned file sav22103-2). 7. Mechanical equipment: a. Heating: The BOQs originally were heated by a steam boiler with steam radiators distributed throughout the building; all radiators had been removed from the buildings. The original steel heating boiler had a capacity of 3,660 square feet of hot water radiation and was fueled by coal (Fort Benning drawing 6425-282 sav22103-14). b. Lighting: Original ornamental lighting fixtures included a brass fixture in the lobby and a brass fixture and wall sconces in the lounge (Jaeger Company 1998). These fixtures were not in place in June 2008. c. Plumbing: Each officer unit was designed with a separate bathroom that contained a toilet, a sink, and a shower.

D. Site 1. Historic landscape design: Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38 are oriented to face west overlooking Richardson Circle, a semi-circular drive at the eastern end of a large, formal, open space intersected by Wold Avenue and Sigerfoos Road. Richardson Circle is paved with curbing and sidewalks. Trees are planted along both sides of the semi-circular street. The trees are primarily oak, some of which have reached mature years. Each building is accessed from Richardson Circle by a sidewalk that leads to the main entry. The buildings also are linked to each other by a sidewalk that leads from the south porch of Building No. 36 to the north porch on Building No. 37 and then to the north porch on Building No. 38. 2. Outbuildings: Miller Loop is a slightly curving street located behind the BOQs. This road originally provided access to one-story, multi-car garages constructed behind each BOQ. Each garage contained 18 bays to correspond to the number of residents in each building. The garages were demolished in June 2007. Prior to removal, the garages were documented according to HABS standards (Salo 2008).

Part III: Sources of Information

A. Architectural Drawings: The original architectural drawings for Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38 are archived at Fort Benning. In addition to the original drawings, Fort


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Benning has scanned all original and subsequent project drawings. Six scanned drawings for the BOQs are included in this documentation package as supplemental graphic material. A catalog of original BOQ drawings is presented below: 6425-281-basement, roof plans, details (sav22103-1) 6425-282-plans door and window schedules (sav22103-2) 6425-283-elevations and sections (sav22103-3) 6425-284-main entrance and porch details (sav22103-4) 6425-285-wall section and wing details (sav22103-5) 6425-286-exterior details (sav22103-06) 6425-287-interior details (sav22103-07) 6425-288-structural details (sav22103-08) 6425-289-structural details (sav22103-09) 6425-290-structural details (sav22103-10) 6425-291-structural details (sav22103-11) 6425-292-heating (sav22103-12) 6425-293-plumbing (sav22103-13) 6425-294-electrical (sav22103-14) B. Selected Sources: The Anniston Star 1935 “Low Estimate for Barracks is $337,200, New Chapel for McClellan to Cost

Approximately $100,000.” November 15. Viewed online at www.ancestry.com on November 3, 2008.

Caldwell, Wilber W. 2001 The Courthouse and the Depot: The Architecture of Hope in an Age of Dispair.

Mercer University Press, Macon, GA. Chambers, Lt. Col. John S. 1928 “Quarters for Our Army.” The Quartermaster Review (March-April 1928): 24-26. Cronenberg, Allen 1995 Forth to the Mighty Conflict: Alabama and World War II. The University of

Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, AL. Ford, George B. 1929 "New Army Posts for Old." The Quartermaster Review (November-December

1929):19-22.


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Fort Benning, Directorate of Public Works, Environmental Management Division 2006 Historic Properties Component of the Integrated Cultural Resource Management

Plan for Certification under the Army Alternate Procedures for Historic Properties in lieu of 36 CFR Part 800 for Section 106 compliance of the National Historic Preservation Act. On file at Environmental Management Division, Fort Benning.

n.d. Project Files maintained by the Environmental Management Division, Directorate

of Public Works, Fort Benning. n.d. Real Property Records. Directorate of Public Works, Fort Benning. Var. Scanned drawing archive. Provided by Environmental Management Division,

Directorate of Public Works, Fort Benning. Goodwin, R. Christopher, & Associates, Inc. 1995 National Historic Context for Department of Defense Installations, 1790-1940.

Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, Baltimore, Maryland. Four volumes.

“Housing the Army” 1931 The Quartermaster Review (March-April 1931):11-18. Jaeger Company (The) 1998 Fort Benning Historic Resource Interior Survey: Building No. 36. Digital

document on file at Environmental Management Division, Directorate of Public Works, Fort Benning, Georgia.

National Archives and Records Administration 1934 Record Group 77, Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Entry 391B,

Construction Completion Reports 1917-1943, Fort Benning, Georgia. Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:76-97.

National Archives and Records Administration, Cartographic Branch n.d. Record Group 77, Standard Plans of Army Post Buildings, 1891-1918 (P.I. NM-19,

Entry 411), Plan 25. National Register of Historic Places, Department of the Interior 2008 Database search in November 2008 using records online at

http://www.nr.nps.gov. Owen, Thomas McAdory 1921 History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. The S.J. Clarke

Publishing Company, Chicago, IL.


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Perry, Susanne Seale 2006 Fort Benning Main Post Historic District. Draft National Register nomination on

file at Environmental Management Division, Directorate of Public Works, Fort Benning.

Salo, Edward 2008 Building Nos. 864, 865, and 866 Fort Benning, Chattahoochee County Georgia,

Historic American Buildings Survey, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia.

Stelpflug, Peggy A., and Richard Hyatt 2007 Home of the Infantry: The History of Fort Benning. Mercer University Press,

Macon, Georgia, with The Historic Chattahoochee Commission and The National Infantry Association.

Wheaton, Francis B. 1928 "The Architecture of the Army Post." The Quartermaster Review (September-

October): 10-13.


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Excerpt of Fort Benning Main Post Map Showing Location of Bachelor Officers Quarters

(Building Nos. 36, 37, and 38)


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Source: NARA, Record Group 77, Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Entry 391B, Construction Completion Reports 1917-1943, Fort Benning, Georgia. Completion Report, Book 5, 1933-1934:ff98.


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FORT BENNING, MAIN POST, BACHELOR OFFICERS HABS GA …lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ga/ga1000/ga1097/data/ga1097data.pdf(BOQ) constructed in 1934. 2. Architect: Construction Division

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