Champlain Arsenal was a 19th-century fortification near

Vergennes, Vermont Vergennes is a city located in the northwest quadrant of Addison County, Vermont, United States. The municipality is bordered by the towns of Ferrisburgh, Panton, and Waltham. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,553. It is the smalle ...

. Two buildings, built in 1825, still stand and make up the oldest remaining buildings of the Vermont Industrial School, now a

Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24. Mission and purpose Job Corps' mission is to help young people ages 16 throug ...

center. The two arsenal buildings have been shuttered since the 1970s.

Origins

The Army established this federal arsenal in 1826 or 1828. It contained quarters for officers, barracks, a magazine, ordnance storehouses, and munitions storehouses.

Antebellum operations

Josiah Gorgas Josiah Gorgas (July 1, 1818 – May 15, 1883) was one of the few Northern-born Confederate generals and was later president of the University of Alabama. As chief of ordnance during the American Civil War, Gorgas managed to keep the Confederate ...

briefly served at Champlain Arsenal.

First abandonment

The Army discontinued Champlain Arsenal in 1855.

Civil War era

Champlain Arsenal reopened in 1861.

Decommissioning

The Army left Champlain Arsenal in 1872. The War Department sold the site in 1873.

References

{{Coord, 44, 10, 11, N, 73, 15, 46, W, type:landmark_region:US-VT, display=title Buildings and structures in Vergennes, Vermont Closed installations of the United States Army Forts in Vermont