Battery G of the 5th United States Artillery at the ready.
| Background & History"The Old Stone
Barracks is historically significant as the oldest extant structure on the
Plattsburgh Air Force Base, which is itself historically notable as the most
long-standing combat-ready, military installation in the United States. The
Barracks is architecturally significant as a well-preserved example of
vernacular, Greek Revival period design applied to military function."
So reads the introduction to the 1995 Historic Structures Survey, prepared for the U.S. Air Force just before the closing of the base. The significance of the Old Stone Barracks is further legitimized by its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Local historians are currently working together to get this unique historic structure and site registered as a National Historic Landmark, which would put it on the map as one of about only 2,430 places recognized as both a National Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic places. Built between 1838 and 1843 with massive stone walls, heavy timber framing, and a beautiful two story columned porch running the full length of the north façade, the building has a remarkably intact exterior. With views of Valcour Island, Cumberland Head, Grand Isle and the Green Mountains of Vermont, the building conveys the central role that military activities played in the history of the Champlain Valley. The Old Stone Barracks was originally built for enlisted soldiers and adjacent to it was a similarly sized building for officers. (The building to the left in the photo on the left.) The officers’ quarters was demolished in 1964. In addition to the Barracks, also surviving today from this mid-19th century period, are a brick powder magazine, the post parade ground, and the nearby "Old Post Cemetery." These structures represent one of the last remaining examples of the first generation of permanent U.S. Army barracks in existence in the United States. |
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