This photograph is of a structure identified as Fort No. 1 in Springfield. Comparison of the photograph and the plan of Fort No. 1, however, indicate that this structure was likely not part of the fort. It could have been a powder magazine built inside the fort after the engineering plan was completed, and then converted into a residence following the war.

Fort No. 1 at Springfield (also called Fort Brown, in honor of General Egbert Brown) was one of five fortifications built in 1862 by Union forces under the supervision of Colonel Marcus LaRue Harrison. Fort No. 1 was of a star-shape design, consisting of walls and ditches covering approximately 7.5 acres, in an area now roughly enclosed by Eagle Avenue on the west, North Nettleton Street on the east, Brower Street on the north, and Chestnut Expressway on the south.

The last trace of Fort No. 1 was destroyed in 1910 when the land was cleared for a new city housing development.

Albumen by Tom C. Strickland, Springfield, Mo.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 00373