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Near Brackettville in Kinney County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
 

1873 Infantry Barracks

 
 
1873 Infantry Barracks Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William F Haenn, May 1, 2012
1. 1873 Infantry Barracks Marker
Inscription. Fort Clark by 1873 had grown to regimental size, compelling construction of six single-story infantry barracks and three two-story cavalry barracks by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department. This one-story rectangular plan barracks was built of coursed rubble limestone with a gable wood shingle roof, stone fireplaces, central roof vent and shed front porch. The open interior housed bunks for sixty-four soldiers with a single gun rack in the center of the open bay. The company barracks faced the officers’ quarters to the west across the parade field. Today this building is the best surviving example of its kind at Fort Clark, and one of a handful of Indian Wars period barracks left on any post in the nation.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2010
 
Erected 2010 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 16385.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Buildings. In addition, it is included in the Buffalo Soldiers series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1873.
 
Location. 29° 18.275′ N, 100° 25.261′ W. Marker is near Brackettville, Texas, in Kinney County. Marker is on Fort Clark Road, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 367 Fort Clark Road, Brackettville TX 78832, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
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At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Fort Clark Post Theater (within shouting distance of this marker); Palisado Building Kitchen / Mess Room (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Remolino Raid (about 500 feet away); Married Officers' Quarters 8-9 (about 600 feet away); Officers' Row Quarters (about 600 feet away); Fort Clark Guardhouse (about 700 feet away); Officers Quarters 2-3 and 4 (about 700 feet away); New Cavalry Barracks (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Brackettville.
 
More about this marker. Marker is located on Fort Clark Springs in the Fort Clark National Register Historic District and is accessible to the public.
 
Regarding 1873 Infantry Barracks. Fort Clark’s only remaining essentially unaltered 1873 Infantry Barracks served as quarters for enlisted men of the fort’s garrison for over seventy years from 1873-1944. The building is recognized in the National Register narrative as a contributing structure to the Fort Clark Historic District. This distinctive building was home for generations of soldiers from the Indian Wars of the 19th century to World War II in the 20th century.

Not until 1870 did permanent quarters for soldiers exist on Fort Clark. Two single story infantry barracks were built
1873 Infantry Barracks additional view image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William F Haenn, January 25, 2015
2. 1873 Infantry Barracks additional view
of stone that year by the Buffalo Soldiers of the 25th Infantry. By 1873 the fort’s garrison had grown to regimental size requiring the largest construction effort in the fort’s existence … four single story infantry barracks and three two-story cavalry barracks, all of stone, were completed in 1873-74 by skilled civilian carpenters, masons, and quarryman employed by the Quartermaster Department.

This 1873 Infantry Barracks on Fort Clark is a classic and enduring example of utilitarian U.S. Army architecture from the late 19th century with a one of a kind design suited to the needs of the expanding post garrison in the early 1870s. Today, one hundred and thirty-six years later, the building continues to provide shelter and comfort as originally intended and is being responsibly maintained in a good state of repair by the current owners. Of the six single story stone infantry barracks in the Fort Clark Historic District all but one have experienced irreversible unsympathetic modifications. Only this barracks stands out as essentially unaltered and an exemplary model of preservation.

The 1873 Infantry Barracks is the finest example of 19th century soldier housing remaining intact in the Fort Clark Historic District. This building may well be one of only a handful of Indian Wars period single-story stone barracks left on any army post in the nation and perhaps
Fort Clark's 1873 Infantry Barracks image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William F Haenn, November 3, 2009
3. Fort Clark's 1873 Infantry Barracks
the sole original example of this type of military architecture still standing in Texas.
 
Historic view of the interior of the 1873 Infantry Barracks image. Click for full size.
circa 1896
4. Historic view of the interior of the 1873 Infantry Barracks
13th Cavalry parade in front of 1873 Infantry Barracks image. Click for full size.
Photographed By W.W. Murff, January 8, 1919
5. 13th Cavalry parade in front of 1873 Infantry Barracks
Historic view of 1873 Infantry Barracks then home of "E" Troop 5th Cavalry image. Click for full size.
circa 1936
6. Historic view of 1873 Infantry Barracks then home of "E" Troop 5th Cavalry
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on August 27, 2020. It was originally submitted on May 2, 2012, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. This page has been viewed 987 times since then and 15 times this year. Last updated on April 21, 2015, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. Photos:   1. submitted on May 2, 2012, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas.   2. submitted on April 21, 2015, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas.   3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on May 2, 2012, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024