In January 1861, U.S. troops surrendered the Augusta Arsenal to the State of Georgia, soon to be part of the Confederacy. That year Confederates constructed a large shop building near the eastern wall to house several functions: part was a hospital, part was a storehouse, and the remainder contained a blacksmith shop, tin shop, and the harness and equipment department for the field artillery. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, the shop building provided storage for ordnance and also housed a machine shop and foundry. The arsenal manufactured cast iron shells, cavalry equipment, and seacoast targets, and its works also included reconditioning small arms. Cast iron scraps and steel were smelted in the foundry, and a small portable brass foundry made brass castings. In World War II, machine shop workers in the south wing of the old Confederate building reconditioned rifles and small arms, and cast iron shells were made in the foundry. In 1969 the college demolished the north and south wings of the building for college parking, and the final portion of the building, its center, came down in the winter of 1971-1972.