Inside the Earthwork

Whether a blockhouse stood at the Boonesboro earthwork remains unanswered because no written records have been found, and only intensive archaeological investigation can resolve the question. Captain Thomas Brooks specifically recommended an enclosed earthwork surrounded by an abattis and enclosing a blockhouse, so if his plan was carried out, a blockhouse was built there. It was likely similar to those designed by Colonel William E. Merrill for the Kentucky Central Railroad: a flat-roofed rectangular log structure about 18 x 25 feet that filled the earthwork’s interior, with a dirt floor and a roof made from side-by-side logs covered with dirt and topped with shingles if available, or boards and battens. Such blockhouses were built to house their garrisons and were equipped with ventilators, water tanks, and bunks. Their only wall openings were loopholes just large enough for firing a rifle, leaving the interior dark, stuffy, and uncomfortable.

Kentucky · United States