The Jefferson Ordnance Magazine in

Jefferson, Texas Jefferson is a city and county seat of Marion County, Texas, in Northeast Texas. It has a population of 1,875 as of the 2020 United States census. History Almost every commercial building and house on the main arterial road in Jefferson has a h ...

, United States, is located 0.3 miles northeast of the US-59B crossing of

Big Cypress Bayou Cypress Bayou is the name applied to a series of wetlands at the western edge of Caddo Lake, in and around Jefferson, Texas, making up part of the largest Cypress forest in the world. The bayou is divided into three areas—each part of the w ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1995. It is located across the

waterway from

Jefferson and Cypress Bayou Railway The Historic Jefferson Railway (sometimes known as the Jefferson and Cypress Bayou Railway) was a Narrow gauge railways, narrow gauge railroad in Jefferson, Texas. It was an insular line that followed the Big Cypress Bayou for approximately thr ...

. It is claimed by the railway operators and tour guides to be the only remaining

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

powder magazine from the 1860s. That claim, appearing a
this website advertising a train tour
appears to be false, as it does not take into account powder magazines that are included in surviving confederate forts. A specific counter-example to the claim is the

Confederate Powderworks The Confederate Powderworks, also known as the Augusta Powder Works, was a gunpowder factory during the American Civil War. It is one of the only permanent structures completed by the Confederate States of America that wasn't destroyed by Union f ...

, in Georgia, whose powder magazines disprove the claim. A narrower claim, that it is the only surviving Confederate powder house in Texas and one of few in the U.S., is stated by the Historic Jefferson Foundation. An even more narrow claim, that it is "the most intact example in East Texas of a Civil War era brick ordnance magazine directly associated with the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate States of America," appears in a planning document prepared by the Texas Historical Commission. The magazine was built in late 1863 or early 1864. "Ninety percent of the building is original and remains unaltered except for some weathering, aging brick and some sympathetic repairs." However, two smaller associated buildings have been dismantled, apparently for their bricks. The Ordnance Magazine and the property it sits on is owned by the Historic Jefferson Foundation. This property is landlocked and the road to the magazine is on private property, today it can only be viewed by riding the

, or taking the Turning Basin Riverboat Tour, both of which are attractions in Jefferson, Texas.

References

External links

Short description and photo, at Historic Jefferson Foundation: Landmarks

this website advertising a train tour
{{National Register of Historic Places in Texas Magazines (artillery) Jefferson, Texas Buildings and structures in Marion County, Texas Government buildings completed in 1863 American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Marion County, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks Brick buildings and structures in the United States

See also

References

External links