Civilian Contractors at Fort Howard

Civilian Contractors at Fort Howard. . , All of the military buildings, gun batteries, fire control towers, roads, railroad tracks, piers and sea walls in this 1923 picture of Fort Howard were built by civilian contractors. Contractors have always been an essential tool of our armed forces and have played a key role in the defense of our nation., The two derelict buildings behind this sign were thee contractors barracks and mess hall. The red circle shows where they are located in the fort. Below are images of the buildings from the 1920s., There were two construction piers built out into the river when the fort was started in 1897. The blue circles show their locations. The first image below is of the pier to the left. Look carefully to spot the steam powered davits and narrow gauge railroad cars. After construction was completed this pier became a permanent feature at the fort. The other pier is seen in the background of the second image. It was reduced in length and became the swimming pier., The gun batteries were also built with contractor labor. The long image below is of the mortar pits (Battery Key) being constructed in 1898. The green circle shows its location in the fort. A period newspaper article explained that most of the contractors hired to build the gun emplacements were African-American and that they lived at the fort during construction., During World War I, Fort Howard became an artillery training center and expanded greatly. Contractors were brought in to put up new barracks and mess halls quickly. The yellow circles show some of those temporary buildings. A period newspaper article describes how contractors hired to work at Fort Howard were pulled off the #26 street cars at the steel plant and offered more money to work there. The construction supervisors at the fort were not happy.