Benicia Arsenal

Benicia Arsenal is a former U.S. Army ordnance depot on Army Point, overlooking Carquinez Strait at Benicia, California. The government acquired the land in 1847, troops arrived in 1849, and by 1852 the post served as one of four permanent arsenals and general supply depots on the Pacific Coast. By 1859 seven hand-hewn sandstone buildings stood on the site, among them the Post Hospital, powder magazines, the Camel Barns and a three-story storehouse built as a fortress, later topped by a clock tower. Brick officers' quarters, barracks, a guardhouse and three permanent shops followed in the 1860s through 1880s. The arsenal supplied western troops during the Civil War and equipped National Guardsmen in 1898. It served as a principal supply point for Pacific ordnance in World War II, and its civilian workforce peaked during the Korean conflict. Deactivated in 1963, it was listed as a district of three building clusters plus individual sites, because later intrusions fragmented the original setting.