The Blockhouse Ruins

The Blockhouse Ruins. Prince Park. The large mounds you see on the rise in front of you are the eroded remains of the walls of Fort Marcy's blockhouse. It was built in 1846-1847 on the highest place on Fort Marcy hill for use as a guardhouse and soldiers' quarters. Unlike the fort, blockhouse designer Gilmer ordered that the walls be constructed of sun-dried adobe bricks made in town by local workmen. The timber ceiling was covered with 2 to 3 feet of dirt. The interior walls were finished with white lime plaster., "Nothing was left of Fort Marcy. Even the adobe walls had fallen. It was strange to stand there that evening where I had played more than eighty years before. Was it imagination, or did I hear voices? The half-remembered voices of children…or was it the sound of wind sighing down over the mesa?", Marion Sloan Russell, 1850s resident of Santa Fe, revisited the city during the 1930s., "Fort Marcy had been in ruins many years, but an old two-story building still stood there. Inside the building was another smaller one that was supposed to have been used by sharp shooters during the Mexican War. Erosion was opening many of the graves…" , Marion Sloan Russell, (photo captions:), ·By the time this photo was taken in 1912 the old fort walls had become low mounds., ·Pictured are the ruins of an adobe building. After construction at Fort Marcy ceased in 1847, rain and wind began to wear away the high dirt walls. By the mid-1850s, children had claimed the fort as a playground, where they could conduct pretend battles among the ruins. By the 1880s, world-renowned Southwest archaeologist and Santa Fe resident Adolph F. Bandelier was intrigued with the ruins. He reported on his visits to the fort, and made detailed notes about the artifacts he discovered. . This historical marker was erected by National Park Service, City of Santa Fe and State Historic Preservation Division. It is in Santa Fe in Santa Fe County New Mexico