Barracks

Barracks. Fort Laurens. The archaeologists uncovered many clues to how the fort was constructed. It had palisaded walls made of unpeeled logs, 10 to 12 inches in diameter, some of which were split in half. They were placed against the inner wall of a trench averaging 36 inches deep. Ditches surrounded both the outside and inside of the fort wall, where earth was "borrowed” to heap up against the stockade. On the outside the ditch prevented attackers from running unimpeded up to the fort wall or hiding out at the base of the wall where gunners could not safely fire down at them. On the inside, the dirt was used to provide a 'parapet' for the gunners to stand on and fire over the fort wall. The log buildings, some not completed until January 1779, featured floor joists laid directly on the ground. Some barracks even had chimneys. Officers and men lived apart, which was indicated by the differences in the quality of the refuse found near each. These artifacts can now be seen in the museum. . This historical marker was erected by Ohio Historical Society. It is in Bolivar in Tuscarawas County Ohio