C. H. Kennedy Letter 22 February 1855

U. S. Navy Yard Gosport Va
February 22nd 1855

Sir,

In obedience to your order, I have the honor to report that, since the completion of the new Magazine at Fort Norfolk, I have frequently inspected it, under various changes of temperatures and weather, and have always found it dry. I have therefore no hesitancy in expressing my opinion of the fitness of the building itself for the reception of powder. But the dependencies, five in number, ore roofed with shingles, and are so many tinder boxes. Neither one of these is more than sixty feet from the Magazine building; nor is it proposed to fit up and make use of more than three. The others therefore are worse than useless. Besides this, there is a great quantity of rubbish, mostly inflammable, lying in close proximity to the magazine.

The walls of the Fort are in so dilapidated a condition, particularly at the N. West angle, that if neglected much longer, there is strong reason to believe they will fall to the ground.

The ramparts are broad and composed of sand, and the rainwater falling upon these surfaces, find its way into the area in which stands the Magazine building and its dependencies. The Civil Engineer, Mr. Brown, is of the opinion that the ramparts should be reduced in height and breath, sloped and turfed; that the pavement around the Magazine building, should be extended to the foot of the slope, and terminate in a gutter, to conduct the water without the walls of the Fort. In this opinion I fully concur.

Respectfully,
Yr obt servt,
C. H. Kennedy
Apt Insp Ordnance

Capt. Sam. S. Breese
Comm’g Naval Station
Gosport Va