Frankford Arsenal (Boundary Decrease)

Frankford Arsenal in northeast Philadelphia was established after Congress authorized munitions depots in 1815, with the federal government acquiring its first 20 acres in 1816. Its district includes stone and brick quarters, storehouses and barracks built from 1812 onward, among them the West Storehouse of 1817, where President Madison laid the cornerstone, and the Officers' Club building of 1835. The arsenal was used as an ammunition depot during the Mexican War and began manufacturing percussion caps and small arms ammunition shortly before the Civil War. Later, research on smokeless propellants and explosives, and later optics and fire control devices, made it a center of military technical development. The district also contains early reinforced concrete buildings, which the nomination regards as an important collection of early examples of that construction type. Two Saratoga cannon captured in 1777 are displayed in a park on the site.