Sergeants' Row

Sergeants' Row. . "The efficiency of the Army, and the welfare and contentment of the enlisted men, depend very largely upon the non-commissioned officers. Hence it is very important that the character and dignity of [sergeants] be elevated as much as possible." , Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1889, Sergeants are the backbone of the Army and are the crucial link between officers and enlisted soldiers. The two-and-one-half story, red-brick duplexes on the east side of Riley Avenue were designed by the Quartermaster Corps and built in 1909. They were the first time the Presidio provided separate quarters for non-commissioned officers (corporals and sergeants) and their families. Their design is conservative and is similar to nineteenth century working-class housing., The buildings have one-story porches across their façades with square columns with simplified banded Tuscan capitals. The entrances to the two units are at opposite ends of the porch. Each unit has a living room and kitchen on the first floor and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. The wood frame porches at the back of the houses were later enclosed for laundry rooms. In 1912, electric lights were added and in 1938 new plumbing fixtures were installed., On the west side of Riley Avenue are three Georgian Revival style duplexes built in 1931 also for non-commissioned officers and their families. Built of brick, they have durable red tile roofs. These quarters have enclosed sun porches, a much more useful amenity in this windy place than open porches., Captions (Left to right): , . Sergeant Archie W. Duberry, his wife Bertha-Anne, and their daughter in 1899. Park Archives , . Sergeants' Row in the early twentieth century. Park Archives , . Georgian Revival non-commissioned officers' duplexes on the west side of Riley Avenue. Park Archives , . Corporal Boyd and his fiancée inspect the new non-commissioned officers' quarters under construction in June, 1931. Park Archives