Information Panel: Butcher Shop and Boarding House

The armory permitted Philip Coons to erect a large butcher shop and boarding house here.

NPS / Claire Hassler

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Factory officials believed a ready supply of meat for the community was "decidedly advantageous to the interests of the armory." As a result, the armory permitted local businessman Philip Coons to erect a large butcher shop and smokehouse, as well as a substantial stone boarding house, here on government land in the mid-1820s. When the U.S. purchased the buildings in 1836, the boarding house was converted to workers' housing, while Coons continued to lease the butcher shop. Photo

Caption: 1864 view of the boarding house lot and armory workers' houses from Jefferson Rock. Union troop transports crowd the railroad in front of the main structure.