Frankford Arsenal

Frankford Arsenal. , In 1816, the Federal government bought land here for a military arsenal. At first the site was used as a storage and repair depot. Soon, arms and ammunition were being developed and tested here as well. During the Civil War, the arsenal ran day and night, churching out muskets and ammunition vital to the Union cause., Production ramped up again for the first and second World Wars as workers produced millions of bullets a day for U.S. forces., By the time it closed in 1977, the Frankford Arsenal had served our country for more than 160 years., When the government founded the arsenal, this area was mostly open land. Soon, other industries located here, drawn by Frankford Creek, which provided water power for mills. As businesses crowded the banks, complaints of flooding grew. In response, engineers began a series of projects to straighten the winding creek starting in 1901., [Captions:] , The arsenal produced munitions ranging from timing fuses to artillery shells., In peacetime, the arsenal's workshops and laboratories were used for weapons research., Early on, the arsenal consisted of a few small buildings sitting on twenty acres of land.