Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Construction details

a. Dimensions and footings. On the three versions of the Vavasour ground plan of 1845 the Iron Store scales out to be thirty feet wide and between about thirty-eight and forty-two feet long, with forty feet probably being the intended length; the long dimension runs north and south (see Plates VI, VII, VIII, vol. I). These measurements correspond with the forty by thirty feet given in the Company's inventory of 1846-47. [5] The later maps mentioned in the preceding paragraph cannot be relied upon for dimensions, but they all seem to show the structure as longer from north to south than from east to west.

In the words of Mr. Caywood, archeological excavations in 1952 were "not too successful" in determining the size of the Iron Store. A hard-packed floor area of native soil was found of "approximately" the dimensions given by Vavasour. Only the position of the southeast corner was definitely fixed. The most significant structural feature discovered was the "sole" of the south wall. It was formed of planks nine inches wide and two inches thick. [6]

The site of the Iron Store has not yet been excavated during the series of explorations begun by the National Park Service during the early 1970s. It is anticipated by the writer that when this location is opened to a greater depth it will be found, as in the case of the Blacksmith's Shop, that Mr. Caywood's "soles" are actually the remains of massive sills resting on sub-surface footings.

b. General construction. The view of Fort Vancouver drawn by Lt. Henry J. Warre in 1845-46 clearly shows the structure in the extreme southeast corner of the fort as having a hipped roof with the ridge running east and west (see Plates IX and X, vol. I, and Plate XLII, this vol.). As has been mentioned several times in this report, however, Warre's representation of the structures in that locality appears to have no correlation whatever with the very accurate positioning of those buildings on the Vavasour map of about the same date. One can only conclude that Warre was exercising artistic license when he made his sketch and must discard the thought that his drawing might have any validity as an accurate depiction of the Iron Store.

Beginning with the Paul Kane pencil sketch of 1846-47 (Plate XIV, vol. I) the representations of the structures in the extreme southeastern angle of the fort, when they can be made out, correspond very well with what might be expected from the ground plans of approximately the same dates. Both the Kane drawing and the 1847-48 painting by an unknown artist (Plates XV and XVI, vol. I) show the Iron Store as a gable-roofed structure with the ridge line running north and south with the long axis of the building. These pictures, particularly the former, also show that the Iron Store was higher than its neighbor, the Blacksmith's Shop. Unfortunately, these views portray no more than the roof and the gable portion of the north wall.

Drawings of the 1850s by Gustavus Sohon and R. Covington do not distinctly delineate the Iron Store, but as nearly as can be determined they appear to support the information about the structure in the south- east corner of the fort provided by the Kane and 1847-48 views (see Plates XXI and XXII, vol. I).

From the scanty archeological and pictorial evidence thus far available a few conclusions, some firm and some tentative, can be drawn:

(1) The Iron Store measured about forty by thirty feet, with the long axis running north and south.

(2) Construction was probably in the usual post-on-sill style, with the sills about at ground level.

(3) In an 1845 building the timbers probably would have been sawed.

(4) The walls could have been as high as twelve feet, a height that would have permitted the inclusion of a garret.

(5) The ground floor was of packed earth.

(6) The roof was gabled; the ridge ran north and south. Having been erected about early 1845, the building probably was covered with shingles over horizontal boards.

(7) The main door was probably double and in the north wall. There probably was a door in the west wall providing easy access to the Blacksmith Shop. There probably was a ramp before each door.

(8) Windows undoubtedly were few and small.

(9) There were no chimneys.

(10) The Iron Store was unpainted inside and out, except that doors and windows, with their exterior trim, were probably painted to match the Blacksmith's Shop.

(11) Almost surely the building was unlined on the inside, and the ceiling beams were exposed.

(12) If it is decided to construct the Iron Store with a garret, the floor on this second level probably was formed of two-inch rough planks laid on top of the ground floor ceiling beams. In such case there would have been steep, open-tread stairs and one or more trapdoors.

(13) Racks for holding the iron and steel stock undoubtedly Lined the walls of the Iron Store and may have extended down the center of the ground floor. Perhaps archeologists will uncover postholes that will indicate the locations and widths of these features.

(14) The possibility that there were living quarters in the Iron Store has been mentioned in the previous chapter. If such was the case, the quarters probably would have been in the garret. In view of the uncertainty concerning this matter, however, it would be best not to fit out the garret as living space.