Barracks Row

Barracks Row. . , Throughout the military history of Fort Apache, enlisted men were housed with their units to the south of Officers' Row. The first company quarters, completed in February 1871, were 18 by 20 foot log squad huts built in rows running north and south across the area that would become the Parade Ground. The first two rows of eight huts each faced each other on the east end of the Parade Ground and housed a troop of cavalry in each row. A third row of five huts was added 300 feet to the west of the cavalry quarters to house infantry. These huts were cold, damp, drafty, overcrowded and infested with bedbugs., The first company barracks was built of milled lumber in the fall of 1875. An L-shaped building, it was located approximately where the school cafeteria presently stands. In 1878 an adobe barracks, begun in 1875, was completed and two more frame barracks were added. The garrison continued to grow, and in 1881 additional wings were added to two of the barracks to make them U-shaped. In 1882 a fifth, wooden U-shaped barracks was constructed, and in 1885 wings were added to the other original barracks to make them all U-shaped. In 1889 two final adobe barracks were added on each end of Barracks Row, including the ruined structure still standing on the east end of the row., After the post was abandoned by the military, the barracks were used as dormitories, classrooms, a cafeteria, and for other purposes by the Theodore Roosevelt School until they could be replaced by new school buildings.