Fort Pulaski National Monument

Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters

Historic

Structure

Report

March 2004

Historical Architecture, Cultural Resources Division

Southeast Regional Office

National Park Service
Cultural Resources

Southeast Region

National Park Service

100 Alabama St. SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

(404) 562-3117

The historic structure report presented here exists 

in two formats. A traditional, printed version is 

available for study at the park, the Southeastern 

Regional Office of the NPS (SERO), and at a 

variety of other repositories. For more widespread 

access, the historic structure report also exists in a 

web-based format through the SERO intranet, 

which includes links to individual files for a variety 

of photographs, documents, plans and other 

material used in compilation of the printed report.

2004

Historic Structure Report

Quarantine Attendants’ Residence

Fort Pulaski National Monument

Savannah, GA

LCS#: 12172

Cover photo: Quarantine Attendants’ Residence, 

1939 (FOPU Coll.)


National Park Service vii

Foreword xiii

Project Team xv

Administrative Data 1

Management Summary

Research Summary 2

Architectural Summary 2

Recommendations 3

Historical Background and Context

Epidemic Disease 7

Quarantine 7

Protecting Savannah 8

National Quarantine 12

Fort Pulaski National Monument 15

World War II 17

Original Construction 21

Chronology of Development and Use

Changes Between the World Wars 24

U. S. Navy Remodeling, 1942 26

NPS Alterations, 1947-1960 28

Modern Alterations 30

Physical Description

Site 36

Foundation 36

Chimney 37

Framing 38

Doors and Windows 40

Exterior Finishes 42

Interior 43

Treatment and Use

Ultimate Treatment and Use 57

Requirements for Treatment and Use 58

Alternatives for Treatment and Use 58

Recommendations

Bibliography

Table of Contents
viii Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR
National Park Service ix

1. Map of Fort Pulaski National Monument, 1939, with arrow indicating location of Quarantine 

Attendants’ Quarters. (FOPU Coll.) 1

2. Map showing Cockspur Island, Fort Pulaski, and the mouth of the Savannah River. (Detail of Plate 

CXXXIII, No. 3, Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-

1865 (New York, 1958) 5

3. View of Fort Pulaski from the south, 1863, showing breached wall along southeast side of the fort. 

(Timothy O’Sullivan, photographer, Library of Congress) 6

4. Maps depicting evolution of Cockspur Island. (Adapted from Simon Crowfoot, 1986, NPS-SERO-CR 

files) 7

5. View to west over fort’s demilune, 1863. The quarantine station would be built on land created by filling 

the river’s edge just right of center in this image. Except for the fort, none of the structures seen here 

survived the nineteenth century. (Timothy O’Sullivan, photographer, Library of Congress) 8

6. Map of “Proposed New Quarantine Station,” attached to War Department’s revocable license to the City 

of Savannah, 1889. (Archival Records, Box #CON 3, #204. 11

7. View southwest in 1939 of original Quarantine Officer’s quarters, sometimes confused with the later 

residence that now houses park administrative offices. (FOPU Coll.) 12

8. View northeast in 1939 of second residence constructed by the city at the Quarantine Station in 1893. 

(FOPU Coll.) 12

9. View of Cockspur Island of fort’s demilune, c. 1910, showing Quarantine Station on the horizon at far 

right as it had developed before World War I. (FOPU Coll.) 13

10. “Officer’s and Residence Group (Temporary),” proposed NPS use of former quarantine station, 1939, 

prior to removal of “Quarantine Point” (indicated by dashed line). Arrow indicates present park 

headquarters office. (NPS, TIC#2067) 14

11. View southwest at Quarantine Station, c. 1939, with present park administration building at right and 

original quarantine officer’s residence at left. (FOPU Coll.) 15

12. Detail from larger map entitled “Section Base, Savannah, Georgia, June 30, 1942,” showing old 

quarantine station and CCC camp as they were adapted and expanded by the U. S. Navy in 1942-1943. 

Arrow indicates old quarantine attendants’ quarters, the present park headquarters office. (FOPU files)

16

13. View northwest of superintendent’s residence, c. 1970. (FOPU Coll.) 18

14. View to southwest of house, c. 1939. (FOPU Coll.) 22

15. View to northeast of house in 1939, with original officer’s quarters visible at right. (FOPU Coll.) 23

16. View to southeast of house, 1939. (FOPU Coll.) 24

17. View southwest of house around 1950, showing house before park’s alterations in the 1950s. (FOPU 

Coll.) 26

18. View to northwest of house about 1950 with most of the Navy’s alterations still intact. (FOPU Coll.) 27

19. View of house from northeast, January 1960. Note unusual porthole windows and missing front stairs. 

(FOPU Coll.) 28

20. View of house from southeast, January 1960. Note jalousie windows installed in 1953 and the closed 

dormer window. (FOPU Coll.) 29

21. View of house from northwest just prior to 1998 remodeling. (FOPU Coll.) 30

List of Figures
x Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

22. View of building from northwest, 2003. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 31

23. View to northwest of house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 35

24. View to southeast of house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 36

25. View west under north porch, showing typical piles and cross-bracing. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 36

26. View of typical pile-beam-crossbrace connection. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 36

27. View southwest of chimney breast. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 37

28. View northeast of chimney stack as it rises through the attic. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 37

29. View of typical diagonal sheathing used on exterior walls. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 37

30. View of typical cast-iron U-shaped bracket used to hang beams for porch floor joists. (NPS-SERO0CR, 

2003) 38

31. View of typical ceiling joists, with original tongue-and-groove ceiling paneling visible beneath modern 

insulation. (NPS-SERO0CR, 2003) 38

32. View of typical paneling on underside of first floor joists. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 38

33. View east, showing original dormer and gable roof added in 1942. Note that modern fascia replaces 

original crown molding. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 39

35. View northwest in attic showing cross-braced collar beams on main roof. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 39

34. VIew of typical mortised lock installed with French doors in 1942. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 40

36. View of typical double French doors, these located on the east side of Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

40

37. View of typical double-hung window from the historic period. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 41

39. View of translucent, prismatic glass in bathroom. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 41

40. View of typical siding and corner trim. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 42

41. View north on east porch, showing typical finish materials. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 42

42. View of east dormer with original treatment of eaves still intact. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 42

43. View of underside of east porch, with new flooring visible at right where older flooring has been 

removed. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 43

44. View of back side of historic tongue-and-groove ceiling finish, which remains intact beneath finishes 

installed in 1942. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 43

45. View of typical plywood ceiling installed in 1942. Beveled edges are distinctive features of this material. 

Similar material was used on some walls as well. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 43

46. View of typical historic six-panel doors installed in 1942, left, and typical modern six-panel door 

installed in 2002. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003). (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 44

47. Typical historic casing used at doors and windows through most of the house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

44

48. View of typical historic window stool and apron. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 44

49. View south in front hall (100). (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 45

50. View southwest in Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 45

51. View northeast in Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 45

52. View south in Room 101, showing bookcase and door to bathroom. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 46

53. View of typical crown and picture molding in Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 46

54. View of mantle in Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003 46

55. View south in Hall, Room 103. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 47

56. View west in hall, 103. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 47

57. View northwest in superintendent’s office, 105. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 48

58. View of historic toilet in bathroom 104. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 48

59. View southwest in Room 106. Bookcase at right marks location of old bathroom window. (NPS-SEROCR, 2003) 49

60. View southwest in ROom 106, showing molding added in 1998. (NPS-SER0-CR, 2003) 49

61. View southwest in Room 107. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 50

62. View northeast in Room 107. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 50
National Park Service xi

63. Detail of paneling in Room 107. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 50

64. View west in kitchen, Room 108. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 51

65. View east in kitchen, Room 108. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 51

66. View of exhaust fan at west end of kitchen. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 52

67. View southwest in Room 109. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 52

68. View northeast in Room 109. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 52

69. View of wall sconce, c. 1942, located in Room 109. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 53

70. View of abandoned telephone junction box in basement. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 53

71. Plan of existing basement. Concrete slab-on-grade is indicated by hatching; remainder of floor is dirt. 

(T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 54

72. Plan of existing first floor. (T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 55
xii Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR
National Park Service xiii

We are pleased to make available this historic structure report, part of our ongoing effort to provide 

comprehensive documentation for the historic structures and landscapes of National Park Service units in 

the Southeast Region. Many individuals and institutions contributed to the successful completion of this 

work. We would particularly like to thank the staff at Fort Pulaski National Monument for their assistance 

throughout the process, especially the park’s Chief of Maintenance Mike Hosti, Interpretive Ranger Talley 

Kirkland, Chief Ranger June Devisfruto, and Superintendent John Breen. We hope that this study will 

prove valuable to park management in their continuing preservation of the building and to everyone in 

understanding and interpreting the old Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters.

Dan Scheidt, Chief

Cultural Resources Division

Southeast Regional Office

February 2004

Foreword
xiv Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR
National Park Service xv

Project Manager Dan Scheidt, Historical Architect

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Building Investigation and Author Tommy H. Jones, Architectural Historian

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Historical Research Jon Buono, Historical Architect

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Program Reviews Bob Blythe, History

Allen Bohnert, Curatorial & Museum Services

Tracy Stakely, Historic Landscape Architecture

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Project Team
xvi Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR
National Park Service 1

Built in the decade or so before the First World War 

and now used as administrative offices for Fort 

Pulaski National Monument, the Quarantine 

Attendants’ Quarters is the only historic structure 

remaining from the quarantine station established 

by the City of Savannah on Cockspur Island in 1889 

and operated by the U. S. Public Health Service after 

1899. Although the building has recently undergone 

extensive rehabilitation, this historic structure 

report was commissioned “to guide park 

management and staff in making the critical 

decisions concerning the interpretation, protection, 

and preservation of this historic resource.”1

Administrative 

Data

Locational Data

Building Name. Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters

Location. Cockspur Island, Fort Pulaski National 

Monument, Savannah, Georgia.

LCS#. 214329

FIGURE 1. Map of Fort Pulaski National Monument, 1939, with arrow indicating location 

of Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters. (FOPU Coll.)

1. Project description, PMIS 35297.

Management 

Summary
2 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Related Studies

Historic American Buildings Survey. “History of Fort 

Pulaski and Cockspur Island. Addendum to Fort 

Pulaski.” HABS No. GA-2158, Washington, D.C.: 

Department of the Interior, 1998.

Meador, J. Faith. “Fort Pulaski National Monument 

Administrative History.” National Park Service, 

Southeast Region, 2002.

Cultural Resource Data

National Register of Historic Places. Contributing 

structure at Fort Pulaski National Monument, listed 

December 1975.

Period of Significance. c. 1910-c. 1950

Proposed Treatment. Exterior restoration, interior 

preservation.

Research 

Summary

Historical research for this report began with a 

search of the archival records of Savannah City 

Council, which included “Minute Books, 1822-

1864,” held by the Georgia Historical Society, and 

“Records of the Committee on Public Health, 1861-

1932,” and “Quarantine Books, Quarantine Reports 

of Arrival of Vessels, Quarantine Station Reports, 

Contracts 1852-1957,” all held at the City Hall 

Records Center. These and historic photographs in 

the park’s collection provided documentation that 

the present structure is not the original residence 

constructed by the City of Savannah in 1891, as had 

been previously believed. Analysis of numerous 

historic maps, photographs, and NPS planning 

documents from the late 1930s support dating the 

building’s construction to the first two decades of 

the twentieth century, most likely around 1912, but 

additional historical research will be necessary to 

document its construction more precisely. In 

particular, the records of the U. S. Public Health 

Service in the Philadelphia branch of National 

Archives would likely allow more precise dating of 

the building and perhaps provide original plans and 

specifications. Additional research in Navy records 

could document the extensive rehabilitation that 

the building underwent in 1942 and 1943, the 

results of which are now one of the building’s more 

significant features.

The last building associated with the quarantine 

station that operated on Cockspur Island from 1889 

until 1937, the Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters 

also represents a long history of non-military use of 

the island. Quarantine stations existed on Cockspur 

Island or across the sound at Lazaretto Creek off 

and on for most of two centuries, and lighthouse 

keepers came and went for almost as long. While 

Fort Pulaski’s significance is of paramount 

importance, interpretation of other aspects of the 

island’s military history is also possible, with the 

Navy’s adaptation of the quarantine station during 

World War II changing the face of Cockspur Island 

almost as much as construction of the fort had done 

a hundred years earlier. Development of an historic 

resource study that focused on the island’s use for 

quarantine would be particularly helpful in 

providing a context for understanding and 

interpreting the present building.

Architectural 

Summary

Because of the building’s excellent state of repair, 

building investigation was non-destructive, but 

nevertheless provided corroboration for many 

conclusions suggested by the archival research. 

Although the house’s exterior was significantly 

altered in recent years, the building remains 

essentially a product of the Navy’s remodeling and 

rehabilitation of the structure during World War II. 

A number of features of the original building can no 

longer be identified or even hypothesized, although 

the research in Navy records recommended above 

might well produce plans of then-existing 

conditions that would allow some interpretation of 

the original building.

Few if any real problems of repair can be identified 

in the present structure. Interior and exterior 

finishes are in good repair, and there are no readily 

apparent structural issues, although there is 

evidence of past termite infestation. In addition, the 

building is at least eighty years old, and the harsh 

marine environment has probably taken its toll on 

the building’s nails and other ferrous fasteners. As a 

result, the building is probably less able to withstand 

major storm surges or winds with each passing year.

The rehabilitation of the exterior in 2002 and 2003 

produced superb headquarters for the park, but in 
National Park Service 3

Management Summary

the process somewhat diminished the building’s 

architectural integrity and left it with an appearance 

that is historically confused. The present 

configuration of exterior stairways never existed 

historically, nor were the porch bannisters ever 

present after the Navy’s remodeling introduced the 

French doors during World War II. Finally, recent 

installation of plastic lattice at the basement level 

introduced a feature that was never present 

historically.

Recommendations

The general approach to treatment of the building 

should preserve historic interiors and, as repairs are 

necessary on the exterior, gradually restore the 

exterior to its historic appearance during World 

War II. 

■ Document the quarantine station as a whole 

through research in Navy and Public Health 

Service archives.

■ Maintain and preserve all of the present 

wooden, six-over-six windows, repairing 

weather-stripping and adding storm windows if 

necessary for energy efficiency.

■ Maintain and preserve existing exterior 

woodwork on the main body of the house 

above the basement level.

■ Restore wooden sash in Room 107.

■ Restore old bathroom window at the west end 

of the south wall of Room 106.

■ Restore double-hung sash in dormers.

■ Replace three-tab roofing shingles with 

hexagonal shingles.

■ Install half-round gutters and downspouts 

around the outside perimeter of the porches.

■ Restore small gable over north entrance.

■ Recreate openings at basement level and 

replace plastic lattice with lap siding.

■ If necessary, preserve window wall that created 

Room 110; otherwise remove and restore west 

porch.

■ Remove modern posts and bannisters from and 

rescreen north, east, and south porches.

■ Maintain and preserve existing interior finishes 

in Rooms 100, 101, 103, 105, 106, 107, and 109.

■ Maintain and preserve historic light fixture in 

Room 100 and historic wall sconces in Room 

109.

■ Preserve historic toilet in Room 104.
4 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR
National Park Service 5

Located some thirteen miles east of Savannah at the 

mouth of the Savannah River, Cockspur Island is a 

small island, originally only about a mile long and 

three quarters of a mile wide. General James 

Oglethorpe, founder of the colony of Georgia, 

anchored at Cockspur in 1733, and famed Methodist preacher John Wesley first set foot in the New 

World when he landed on the island in 1736. Its 

strategic location made it a natural site for military 

use and for quarantine over the next two centuries.

Fort George was constructed on the island in 1761, 

but it was only a log blockhouse, surrounded by a 

palisade, and served mainly to help enforce the colony’s quarantine and customs laws. In 1776, patriots dismantled the fort, and Cockspur Island 

became a refuge for loyalists, including Governor 

Wright. In 1794-1795, another wooden fortification, 

Fort Greene, was built on the island, and it, too, was 

used almost exclusively as a quarantine station for 

the few years of its existence. Fort Greene was 

totally destroyed when a hurricane washed over the 

island in September 1804, killing half of the fort’s 

occupants.2 The fort was not rebuilt, being replaced 

by Fort Jackson, completed in 1808 on the river a 

few miles above Cockspur.

The near-debacle of the War of 1812, especially the 

burning of Washington in 1814, aroused Congressional action, and in December 1816, President 

Madison appointed a new “Board of Engineers” to 

plan a comprehensive coastal defense system for the 

entire country. In March 1821, Cockspur Island was 

surveyed as the site of one of the forts in that system, 

but plans were not approved until 1828, with construction beginning the following year.

Fort Pulaski was completed in 1847, but its rapid 

reduction in April 1862 by Union gunners proved a 

turning point in military history. Using new rifled 

artillery, the effectiveness of which was still a hot 

FIGURE 2. Map showing Cockspur Island, Fort Pulaski, and the mouth of the Savannah 

River. (Detail of Plate CXXXIII, No. 3, Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the 

Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865 (New York, 1958)

2. Ralston B. Lattimore, Fort Pulaski National 

Monument, Georgia (Washington, D. C.: NPS, 1954)

Historical Background 

and Context
6 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

topic of debate in military circles, Federal gunners 

on Tybee Island breached the fort’s walls so that, 

according to the fort’s commander, “the west side of 

the fort was a perfect wreck of timber and 

masonry.” With the main ammunition magazine 

exposed to incoming shells, the fort was surrendered barely thirty hours after bombardment 

began. After that spectacular demonstration of the 

new guns’ capabilities, Fort Pulaski, like other brick 

and stone forts, was little more than “an interesting 

relic of another age,” according to one historian of 

the fort.3

Initial efforts to modernize Fort Pulaski after the 

Civil War were abandoned in 1872 when planning 

began for a new fort on Tybee Island, a little over a 

mile to the southeast. In October 1873, the last 

Army units were withdrawn from Pulaski, leaving 

only an Army ordnance officer in residence as a 

caretaker for the abandoned facility. The only other 

residents of the island in the 1870s and 1880s were 

the lighthouse keepers. Because Cockspur Island 

divided the Savannah River into north and south 

channels, a light station or beacon existed on the 

island at an early date, perhaps as early as 1772. 4 In 

1848 a new masonry lighthouse was constructed at 

the east end of the island. According to the district 

superintendent of the lighthouse service,

The Pilots consider the Light on the Eastern end 

of Cockspur as necessary as a guide for 

Cockspur Roads, which is the only haven in 

North east gales, and very difficult of access at 

night.5

A keeper’s dwelling and oil house were also constructed, but these and the lighthouse itself were 

destroyed in a hurricane in 1854. Rebuilt the following year, the Cockspur Island Light remained in 

operation until it was extinguished in 1909. “The 

light is not used,” the secretary of the Savannah 

Pilots Association reported, “only for small vessels 

making a harbor in Cockspur, as no vessels use the 

South Channel as in former years.”6

In August 1881, the storm surge from another hurricane put the island under twenty feet of water and 

even the parade ground inside the fort was five feet 

under water. Most of the wooden structures on the 

island were destroyed, including the 1855 lighthouse keeper’s dwelling and the construction “village” built at the north end of the island in 1831. The 

fort and the ordnance officer’s dwelling survived, as 

did the lighthouse; and a new lighthouse keeper’s 

dwelling and a boat house were built in 1882.7

3. J. Faith Meador, Fort Pulaski National Monument 

Administrative History (NPS-SERO, 2002), p. 9.

4. Lighthouse history at U. S. Coast Guard website gives 

date of 1771. <http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/

WEBLIGHTHOUSES/LHGA.html>.

FIGURE 3. View of Fort Pulaski from the south, 1863, showing breached wall along southeast 

side of the fort. (Timothy O’Sullivan, photographer, Library of Congress)

5. Historic Structure Assessment Report, The Cockspur 

Island Lighthouse (NPS, 1994), p. 7.

6. Ibid., p. 11.

7. Meador, p. 14.
National Park Service 7

Historical Background and Context

As Fort Pulaski began to deteriorate in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the face of the island 

also began to change as dredging of the main shipping channel on the north side of the island began in 

earnest in 1867. As a result, large amounts of sand 

and mud from the channel began to fill, and eventually eliminated, the tidal marsh between Long Island 

and Cockspur (see Figure 3). In 1889, with the 

island of little military value, the War Department 

issued a revocable license to the City of Savannah 

for establishment of a quarantine station on land 

northwest of the fort.

Epidemic Disease

Thriving along with urbanization and improved 

transportation, epidemic disease might be epitomized in the bubonic plague, or “Black Death,” 

which was responsible for the deaths of as many as 

25,000,000 people, a third of Europe’s population, 

between 1347 and 1352. Lesser outbreaks spread 

fear for three more centuries, and the plague was 

eliminated in London only after the Great Fire in 

1666.

Smallpox was an early scourge as well, as were yellow fever, typhus, typhoid, influenza, and measles. 

Epidemics disrupted commerce and, on occasion, 

sent entire populations fleeing into the countryside 

to escape contagion. In 1794, yellow fever turned 

Philadelphia into a virtual ghost town and killed 

5,000 people, nearly 10% of its population. Another 

yellow fever epidemic struck Savannah, Charleston, 

and other southern cities in 1841, and more than 

eight thousand died in New Orleans during an outbreak in 1854. As much as a third of the population 

of Norfolk, Virginia, was killed in 1855, and 13,000 

died in the lower Mississippi River valley during the 

last great yellow fever epidemic there in 1878.

Southern ports were particularly vulnerable to tropical diseases, too, and dengue fever broke out in 

Savannah in 1826 and quickly spread to other 

southern and Caribbean ports. In 1850-1851, dengue fever emerged again, this time at Charleston, 

and soon spread to Savannah and other southern 

ports.

Finally, cholera, with its rapid onset and a 50% mortality rate, was especially feared and killed tens of 

millions world-wide in the nineteenth century. 

Originating in India, it became pandemic in 1817-

1823 and again in 1826-1837. The disease spread to 

this country in 1832, with over 3,000 people dying 

in July and August in New York and nearly 4,500 in 

October in New Orleans. Another cholera pandemic swept North America in 1848-1849, killing 

more than five thousand in New York alone, and 

thousands more died during a pandemic in 1866.

Quarantine

The practice of quarantine emerged in the late Middle Ages out of efforts to prevent bubonic plague, 

which was spread all over Europe by way of fleaFIGURE 4. Maps depicting evolution of 

Cockspur Island. (Adapted from Simon 

Crowfoot, 1986, NPS-SERO-CR files)
8 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

infested rats and sick passengers disembarking at 

the local port. At Venice, where the plague was first 

introduced into Europe from the Middle East in 

1347, ships arriving from plague-ridden ports were 

required to sit at anchor for forty days before landing, by which time any disease would have run its 

course. This gave rise to the name adopted for the 

procedure of quarantine, derived from the Latin 

quaresma, or forty.8

During the colonial era, American port cities, 

including Savannah, continued the practice of quarantine in an often-futile effort to prevent epidemic 

disease, some of which, like cholera, became newly 

pandemic in the early nineteenth century as steam 

ships and railroads rapidly increased mobility and 

gave opportunity to spread contagions around the 

world. As scientific understanding of disease grew, 

quarantine went beyond simple isolation and treatment, and in the years after the Civil War, steam and 

chemical disinfecting units capable of processing 

large quantities of baggage and other material were 

added to many quarantine stations. The true nature 

of many epidemic diseases also began to be documented, especially the distinction between diseases 

that were contagious, like smallpox, and might be 

controlled through quarantine, and those that were 

not, like yellow fever, which was a mosquito-borne 

disease against which quarantine was largely ineffective.

Protecting Savannah

Until the late nineteenth century, the practice of 

quarantine was not uniform and was left to local 

control, with quarantine procedures often developed on an ad hoc basis as each crisis arose. Often 

quarantine of ships and their crews was little more 

than requiring anchorage some distance from the 

port and not allowing the ship to dock for a certain 

period of time. For much of the eighteenth and 

nineteenth centuries, Savannah did not even have a 

consistent location for anchorage, with ships kept at 

anchor at several different points below Savannah, 

including Augustine Creek, Fig Island, and FourMile Point, all of which are mentioned in the city 

council’s early records. 8. Center for Disease Control, Division of Global 9

Migration and Quarantine. History of Quarantine.

FIGURE 5. View to west over fort’s demilune, 1863. The quarantine station would be built on 

land created by filling the river’s edge just right of center in this image. Except for the fort, 

none of the structures seen here survived the nineteenth century. (Timothy O’Sullivan, 

photographer, Library of Congress)
National Park Service 9

Historical Background and Context

The city’s first, formal, quarantine station, or lazaretto as they were sometimes called, appears to have 

been established in the 1760s on Tybee Island at 

Lazaretto Creek, which empties into the south 

channel of the Savannah River opposite the east end 

of Cockspur Island. A name not unique to Savannah, “lazaretto” was derived from the Italian lazzaro, or leper, and Nazareto, a popular name for a 

hospital maintained in Venice by the Church of 

Santa Maria di Nazaret. By the eighteenth century, 

lazaretto had come to refer to any place for quarantine of contagious disease.10

Early sailors found sheltered anchorage in Tybee 

Sound between Cockspur and Tybee Islands at the 

mouth of Lazaretto Creek, convenient to Savannah 

yet far enough removed to reduce the fear of contagion. In 1749, the colonial trustees repealed the 

original prohibition against slavery, and as importation of slaves brought with it fear of disease, an 

order was later issued for construction of a lazaretto 

on Tybee Island. In 1767, approximately 100 acres 

on Tybee's extreme western tip at the mouth of 

Lazaretto Creek were purchased from Josiah Tattnall on which to build the quarantine station, and by 

the end of the year a large quarantine building and a 

keeper’s house had been constructed. The station 

was used throughout the Revolution, but in October 

1785, a Chatham County grand jury reported that 

the Tybee lazaretto was “in ruinous condition” and 

ordered its relocation.

There are reports that a new quarantine station was 

built at that time on Oysterbed Island, but that is not 

certain, since there are also reports that Fort Greene 

was used as a quarantine station during the brief 

period of its existence. By the time Fort Greene and 

every other building on Cockspur were destroyed 

by the 1804 hurricane, a marine service hospital was 

being constructed in Savannah, and it appears that 

the city’s quarantine station was located at Fort 

Jackson after that fort’s completion in 1808.11

Administration of Savannah’s colonial and antebellum quarantine procedures has not been well-documented, although it was most likely managed on an 

ad hoc basis by the colonial authorities. As port 

activities grew, the state’s governor appointed the 

city’s first “Health Officer” in 1790, charging him 

with visiting vessels arriving in port, imposing quarantine, attending the sick on board, and investigating and preventing the spread of contagious 

diseases.12 His effectiveness depended on the cooperation of the bar pilots in alerting the Health Officer to the possible presence of contagious disease 

on board incoming vessels. Typical of the Health 

Officer’s reports was one he made in July 1796, 

when he alerted the council to the presence of “an 

infectious or contagious disease. . . in several of the 

West India Islands, and in New Orleans, and the 

Dutch, French, and Spanish Ports on the Main” and 

urged that “the safety and health of the citizens of 

Savannah be preserved.” The council minutes 

recorded their order, which included instructions 

for the order to be “struck off into [50] handbills” 

and distributed.

It is ordered and directed that any and every ship or 

vessel coming from any of the said West India 

Islands, from New Orleans, or from any Dutch, 

French, or Spanish Port on the Main shall be 

stopped and detained at Cockspur to the intent that 

the Master or Captain and all persons on board of 

such ship or vessel shall there execute and perform a 

quarantine of twenty five days, including their days 

of sailing from their last port, after which she may 

proceed to five fathoms holes and there remain until 

the Captain obtains a certificate of health from the 

said officer---and the said Health Officer and the 

several pilots belonging to this port shall be careful 

that this order be carried into effect.”13

While quarantine regulations benefited port cities if 

they were administered in an effective manner, they 

could clearly be a nuisance to shipping, and there 

were continuing concerns that imposition of quarantine not be arbitrary. On August 9, 1819, for 

example, Savannah shipping interests, stung by 

quarantine of their ships in New York’s harbors, 

petitioned the Savannah City Council for action:

Whereas the public authority of the City of New 

York have placed vessels arriving from this port 

under the regulations of their quarantine laws, 

on a supposition that some contagious or 

infectious disease exists in this City, which 9. City Council Record Minutes from the year 1808. 

Savannah City Clerk’s Office.

10. From the American Heritage Dictionary.

11. City Council records are not clear, but archival guides 

to those records indicate that the quarantine station 

was located at Fort Jackson until 1870.

12. Gamble, History of City Government, 1790-1901, pp. 

47, 146. The Health Officer was appointed by 

Savannah City Council after 1823.

13. Savannah City Council Minutes, July 18, 1796.
10 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

requires precautionary measures of this kind, 

And whereas the Inhabitants of the City are now 

known and acknowledged to be perfectly free 

from any contagious or infectious diseases and 

eminently healthy for this season of the Year, and 

that this restriction upon our trade with New 

York, with the unnecessary reflection which it 

carries against the health of this City requires in 

justice to this Port that the report, founded in 

ignorance, be corrected by some public act of 

this Body.14

In 1870, Savannah built a new quarantine hospital, 

wharves, and other facilities near the Tybee lighthouse “opposite Cockspur Island,” thereby shifting 

the hazards of quarantine from Fort Jackson and 

away from the city. In addition to the main port at 

Savannah, the station’s jurisdiction extended to any 

vessels entering port between Ossabaw Island and 

Tybee Island.15

The Savannah City Council first appointed a Committee on Public Health in 1861; and in 1877, with 

concern for public health growing, it created a 

Board of Sanitary Commissioners with the Health 

Officer at its head. The following year, the city hired 

its first City Physician, and the new board was given 

responsibility for supervision of the administration 

of city health laws, investigation and prevention of 

the spread of disease, examination and elimination 

14. Minutes of the Savannah City Council, August 9, 1819. 

City Council Office.

FIGURE 6. Map of “Proposed New Quarantine Station,” attached to War Department’s 

revocable license to the City of Savannah, 1889. (Archival Records, Box #CON 3, #204.)

15. Records of Board of Health, Quarantine Station 

Report Book, 1892, Georgia Historical Society 

#5600HE-30.
National Park Service 11

Historical Background and Context

of health nuisances, and supervision of the sanitary 

regulations of municipal institutions and of matters 

relating to quarantine. The Health Officer, under 

direction of this board, became the general supervisor of the sanitary interests of the city, making 

inspections, inquiries, and reports.16

The expansion of Savannah’s public health program 

coincided with a move that was already underway to 

create a national board of health, which had been 

promoted by the American Public Health Association since its founding in the 1850s. A National 

Board of Health was established in 1878, but 

because of the potentially wide range of economic 

impacts that quarantine of a port could have, federal 

control of quarantine was bitterly opposed in some 

quarters. A resolution by city council in 1880 

decried bills then before Congress:

[These bills] are intended to confer upon the 

National Board of Health powers far too great to be 

safely intrusted to any central body, inasmuch as 

they convey the right to supersede the authority of 

all state and local government in the matter of quarantine, and to close our State against intercourse 

with the rest of the world, whenever in the opinion

of the National Bo. of Health or its Executive Committee (of fine persons) an epidemic of infectious or 

contagious disease prevails in that State.17

The hurricane that struck Georgia and South Carolina in August 1881 killed as many as 700 people and 

destroyed most of the wood-framed buildings on 

Cockspur, including the “construction village” that 

had been established for construction of the fort in 

the 1830s. There was apparently significant damage 

to the quarantine station on Tybee Island as well, 

and in December 1881, the city contracted with 

Henry G. Ward and Charles L. Lodge to tear down 

“the buildings now standing” and to erect new 

buildings “on the same foundation and of the same 

size as those removed.”18

However, it was already apparent that the ongoing 

dredging and other improvements to the river’s 

main shipping channel, which began in the 1860s, 

were depositing so much fill and altering currents in 

such a way that the old South Channel and the 

sound between Cockspur and Tybee were rapidly 

becoming inaccessible to ocean-going vessels. New 

wharves were built in 1878, but when the Savannah 

City Council appointed a joint committee to study 

the situation in 1885, they reported that the “harbor 

and wharves [at the Tybee quarantine station] will 

be rendered useless by the government work to 

improve the channel” and recommended establishment of a new station.19 In May 1888, a special 

council committee selected a site “at east end of 

Long Island” for construction of four wharves and 

tramways to handle discharge of ballast by ships in 

quarantine.20

Early the following year, the council committee recommended additional improvements to those 

wharves “so our quarantine station will be in condition to compete with any of the South Atlantic stations.” At the same time, the committee 

recommended that a site be secured from the Federal government for a permanent quarantine station 

on Cockspur Island. Sale of rock from the old Tybee 

station could, they thought, help defray the cost of a 

new station.21 Events moved rapidly, and by May 

1889, the city had secured an agreement with the 

Secretary of War to begin leasing a “portion of the 

northwestern end of Cockspur Island” for a new 

quarantine station. Since the island was still of 

potential military use, the city’s license for a quarantine station was revocable at will by the War Department, with the city responsible for removing “all of 

its buildings and other property from and off the 

island” at that time.22

Initial bids for construction of the station were 

rejected in February 1890, but by the end of the 

year, wharves, hospital, store houses, and a residence for the Quarantine Officer had been constructed. The city purchased a tug boat in May 1890, 

and the station appears to have been in operation in 

January 1891.23

In August 1892, newspaper reports of tens of thousands dying of cholera across central Europe produced near panic in America, where immigration 

was at an all-time high. Emergency quarantine stations were set up in New York, and on September 1, 

Savannah’s Health Officer issued orders for rigor16. Code of Savannah, 1888, pp. 185-87.

17. City Council Minutes, n.d., 1880; emphasis in original.

18. Records of City Council, 1881.

19. City Council Minutes, June 13, 1885.

20. City Council Minutes, May 2, 1888.

21. City Council Minutes, February 20, 1889.

22. Savannah City Council Archival Records, Box #CON 3, 

contract #204, 1889.

23. City Council Minutes, January-November 1890.
12 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

ous quarantine of ships from cholera-infected ports. 

Every suspected vessel was to undergo “two fumigations for sailing vessels and the usual disinfection by 

bichlorine through boiling of all the clothing with 

the exception of outside garments which you will 

see are thoroughly exposed to the sulfur fumes during fumigation of quarters.”24

The cholera scare apparently exposed inadequacies 

in the city’s new quarantine station, and by the following spring, the city was soliciting bids for construction of new fumigating facilities on Cockspur 

Island. In May 1893, a contract was awarded to John 

Rourke and Son of Savannah for construction of “a 

Fumigating and Disinfecting Plant . . . at the point 

known as Cockspur’s Point on Long Island.” 

Located on the northwest side of the quarantine station, the building was wood-framed, about 78’ by 

41,’ and included a water tank tower 35’ high.25 In 

addition, a new residence was also constructed at 

the station in 1893 to house the crew of quarantined 

vessels.26

Meanwhile, the South Atlantic Quarantine Station 

established by the federal government at Sapelo 

Island in 1883 was working at capacity, which sometimes provoked long delays in processing quarantined vessels. Savannah’s Board of Sanitary 

Commissioners complained in October 1895 that 

“[t]hese delays have not only interfered with the 

commerce of this port but with that of all ports on 

the South Atlantic coast” and requested Georgia’s 

congressional representatives to remedy the “lack of 

sufficient wharfs” at Sapelo.27

Savannah and many other state and local governments had long resisted turning over quarantine 

operations to the Federal government, and even creation of a National Board of Health in 1878 stirred a 

tremendous outcry, led by Savannah’s own Health 

Officer, Dr. J. C. Le Hardy. But as advances in medical science brought better understanding of the true 

nature of many infectious diseases, resistance to a 

national system of quarantine seemed more and 

more short-sighted. By 1899, Savannah, too, was 

ready to be part of the evolving system of national 

quarantine, and in April of that year, negotiated an 

agreement with the U. S. Marine Hospital Service to 

take over operation of the city’s quarantine station 

on Cockspur Island.

National Quarantine

The Marine Hospital Fund, the nation’s first venture into the field of public health, was established 

by Congress in 1798. Funded by deductions from 

seamen’s wages and from shipping taxes, the program was administered through the Treasury 

Department and charged with providing hospital 

services for members of the merchant marine wherever they were ashore and in need. The first of these 

hospitals was established at Boston and others followed, many of them privately owned and operated 

under contract with the government.28

24. W. F. Brunner, Savannah Health Officer, to J. A. Hugen, 

Savannah Quarantine Officer, September 1, 1892, 

Records of Savannah City Council.

FIGURE 7. View southwest in 1939 of original 

Quarantine Officer’s quarters, sometimes 

confused with the later residence that now 

houses park administrative offices. (FOPU Coll.)

FIGURE 8. View northeast in 1939 of second 

residence constructed by the city at the 

Quarantine Station in 1893. (FOPU Coll.)

25. Savannah City Council Archival Records, Box #CON 5, 

contract #389, 1893.

26. HABS Addendum, p. 17.

27. City Council Minutes, October 9, 1895.

28. Williams, Ralph, The United States Public Health 

Service, 1798-1950. 1951.
National Park Service 13

Historical Background and Context

As with quarantine, efforts to centralize control of 

these hospitals into a truly national system often 

met with stiff resistance from local and state authorities, especially in the South where states jealously 

guarded any perceived intrusion by the Federal government. When a new marine hospital was erected 

by the Federal government in Charleston in 1832, 

for instance, even the choice of renowned architect 

Robert Mills to design the building drew fire from 

local citizens.

By the time of the Civil War, the Federal network of 

Marine Hospitals had grown to twenty-seven, but 

by the end of the war only six were still in operation. 

Widespread criticism of hospital administration led 

the Treasury Department to commission a study of 

the system in 1869, and legislation was passed and 

signed in 1870 that created the Bureau of the U. S. 

Marine Hospital Service in the Treasury Department. The act also raised seamen’s fees from forty to 

sixty cents a month and, to head the new agency, 

created the position of Supervising Surgeon, which 

was changed to Surgeon General in 1875.

John Maynard Woodworth (1839-1879) became the 

first Supervising Surgeon in February 1871, but he 

had already made a reputation for himself as Chief 

Surgeon for Union General Sherman’s Army of the 

Tennessee during the campaign for Atlanta in 1864. 

He was especially remembered for having organized 

transport of thousands of wounded to Savannah 

during the March to the Sea, reportedly without the 

loss of a single life. An organizer of the Chicago 

Academy of Science in the 1850s, he used a military 

model in his transformation of the Marine Hospital 

Service, creating a cadre of uniformed doctors and 

other personnel who could be rapidly deployed 

wherever they were needed. 

Even before he died prematurely in 1879, Woodworth had begun expanding the service beyond 

simply maintaining hospital care for seamen. He 

recognized the haphazard nature of quarantine 

under local control and worked with the State 

Department to establish a uniform system of reporting outbreaks of infectious disease overseas. The 

dreadful yellow fever epidemic in 1878 spurred 

Congress to pass the National Quarantine Act that 

same year, placing quarantine authority with the 

Marine Hospital Service and beginning a slow process of incorporating all quarantine stations into a 

national network.

In 1891, the Marine Hospital Service took over 

medical examination of immigrants through Ellis 

Island. Two years later, the service was authorized 

FIGURE 9. View of Cockspur Island of fort’s demilune, after 1895, showing Quarantine Station on 

the horizon at far right as it had developed before World War I. (FOPU Coll.)
14 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

by Congress to accept “use of buildings and disinfecting apparatus at a state quarantine station,” an 

act that greatly facilitated incorporation of those 

stations into the national system.29

A major hurricane struck the Georgia coast in October 1898, causing widespread damage which may 

have increased pressure on the city to divest itself of 

the Cockspur quarantine station. Early the following year, negotiations were underway between the 

city and the Treasury Department for transfer of the 

station. By terms of the final agreement, which was 

signed by the city on April 18, 1899, Savannah 

would receive $5,000 for its quarantine tug boat 

Theckla but would only lease the station itself to the 

Treasury Department for a two-year period, since 

Federal funding for full purchase was apparently 

still uncertain. “[S]hould the city elect to continue 

the Government’s control permanently” at the end 

of that period, the city would be paid an additional 

$20,000 for its buildings and other improvements on 

Cockspur Island. By October 1900, however, Congress passed an appropriation for purchase of the 

station, and the city’s interest in the station was terminated on October 20.30

Reflecting its expanded mission, the Marine Hospital Service was reorganized as the Public Health and 

Marine Hospital Service in 1901, and by 1903 there 

were apparently nine buildings at the quarantine 

29. Treasury Department to Herman Myers, Mayor, City of 

Savannah, April 15, 1899 (Savannah City Council 

Archival Records, 7.528)

FIGURE 10. “Officer’s and Residence Group (Temporary),” proposed NPS use of former 

quarantine station, 1939, prior to removal of “Quarantine Point” (indicated by dashed 

line). Arrow indicates present park headquarters office. (NPS, TIC#2067)

30. Savannah City Council Archival Records, Box #CON 7, 

contract #538 and other documents, 1899.
National Park Service 15

Historical Background and Context

station. According to the Historic American Buildings Survey, these included the hospital, laundry, 

pharmacist and attendants’ quarters, kitchen building, medical officers’ quarters, disinfecting house, 

paint house, sailors’ quarters, and an attendant’s 

quarters.31

In 1912 another reorganization reduced the 

agency’s name to simply the Public Health Service, 

which it remains today, and plans were underway 

for expanding the station again. In September 1911, 

the War Department granted the Treasury Department a revocable license “to occupy, as and for the 

purposes of a quarantine station, a portion of the 

United States Military reservation of Fort Pulaski.”

The station was expanded to include approximately 

130 acres, bounded “on the east by a north and 

south line across the island and distant 1800’ west 

from the northwesterly salient angle of fort and on 

the west another line 2800’ further west from the 

first.”32 According to Meador’s administrative history of Fort Pulaski, the wharf was extended and a 

new kitchen and dining hall, barracks, and another 

residence were also built around that time, although 

those improvements may not actually have 

occurred until 1918, when the station saw a number 

of new additions.33 These included decontamination facilities for returning soldiers and prisoners of 

war, but the abrupt end of hostilities in November 

1918 left the new facilities mostly unused. By the 

late 1920s, there were approximately twenty buildings at the Savannah Quarantine Station, but already 

advances in the treatment of contagious disease and 

greatly reduced immigration were rendering the station obsolete.

Fort Pulaski National 

Monument

Meanwhile, the long-abandoned and deteriorated 

Fort Pulaski was receiving increased attention. On 

31. HABS No. Ga-2158, p. 17.

FIGURE 11. View southwest at Quarantine Station, c. 1939, with present park 

administration building at right and original quarantine officer’s residence at left. (FOPU 

32. John C. Scofield, Assistant to Secretary of War, 

September 7, 1911, Civil Works Project Files, 

Savannah, Access # 78A20, Box 1, NARA.

33. Meador, Administrative History, p. 16; but also see 

HABS, p. 18.
16 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

July 17, 1915, the War Department announced that 

the fort was selected to be a national monument 

under the American Antiquities Act of 1908, but 

World War I delayed formal designation until October 15, 1924. The fort remained in desolate condition, however, until 1933 when administration of 

the monument was transferred to the Department 

of the Interior and the National Park Service began 

development of the area.34

A Civil Works Administration project during the 

winter of 1933-1934 succeeded in clearing dense 

undergrowth from the fort, a “general cleanup of 

Cockspur Island, partial excavation of the main 

drainage canal, and a general engineering survey,” 

all at a cost of around $21,000.35 Additional funding 

through the Public Works Administration was 

delayed, but in May 1934, the CCC established 

Camp 460 just east of the quarantine station and 

constructed a large camp that included four barracks buildings.36 PWA funds were finally released 

in late summer, and in September stabilization and 

restoration of the fort by CCC crews began in earnest. Over the next two years, CCC crews made 

extensive repairs to the fort and restored many features, including the moat, before June 1935 when 

“the bulk of the funds were consumed.” Plans for a 

new caretaker’s residence and visitors rest rooms 

were left unfunded, but in November 1935, a contract was let for a bridge from Cockspur Island 

across the river’s south channel to U. S. 80 on 

McQueen’s Island. After numerous delays, the 

bridge was finally opened to traffic in May 1938.37

Meanwhile, the Public Health Service inaugurated 

$75,000 worth of improvements to the Savannah 

Quarantine Station in 1936, but by the end of the 

year made the decision to move all quarantine operations into Savannah as of March 1, 1937. Ralston 

Lattimore, the monument’s superintendent, immediately began lobbying for acquisition of the aban34. Ralston B. Lattimore. Fort Pulaski National Monument 

Georgia. NPS, 1954.

35. Superintendent’s Annual Report, FYE June 30, 1937.

FIGURE 12. Detail from larger map entitled “Section Base, Savannah, Georgia, June 30, 

1942,” showing old quarantine station and CCC camp as they were adapted and expanded 

by the U. S. Navy in 1942-1943. Arrow indicates old quarantine attendants’ quarters, the 

present park headquarters office. (FOPU files)

36. HABS, p. 21, implies that five buildings at the 

quarantine station were demolished in 1934, but that 

did not occur until 1939.

37. Superintendent’s Annual Report, FYE June 30, 1938.
National Park Service 17

Historical Background and Context

doned station, noting its usefulness for park 

operations as well as for residences for park staff. In 

August 1937, the War Department transferred ownership of the old quarantine station to the Department of Interior, although the Quarantine Officer 

apparently maintained his residence at the station 

until November of that year.38

Around the same time, the Army Corps of Engineers began planning a series of major improvements to the main shipping channel and port at 

Savannah. Part of the project included removal of 

part of the point of land on which the quarantine 

station had been built, work that got underway in 

1939. The old wharf was demolished, a new wharf 

constructed, and two utility buildings and the old 

hospital building were razed. Anxious to reduce its 

upkeep of unneeded buildings, the NPS contracted 

with the CCC to remove five additional buildings 

that same year.

Although the War Department had transferred most 

of Cockspur Island to the Interior Department in 

1936, the country’s military build-up that began in 

response to the outbreak of war in 1939 interrupted 

the park’s plans for redevelopment of the old quarantine station. The first hurricane to strike the 

Georgia coast since 1898 occurred in August 1940 

and brought winds as high as 105 m.ph. in downtown Savannah. Damage may have been significant 

at Cockspur, but funding for major work was 

delayed indefinitely as war clouds gathered, and by 

the summer of 1941, there were rumors that the 

Navy would establish a base on Cockspur Island.

World War II

On November 1, 1941, the Department of the Interior issued a special use permit to the Secretary of 

the Navy to establish Section Base #20 at Cockspur 

Island for its Inshore Patrol.39 With the United 

States’ entry into the war in December, the Navy 

accelerated its work, and on March 18, 1942, the 

Secretary of the Interior notified the NPS that 

Cockspur Island would be turned over to the Navy 

Department for the duration of the war. The following day, Fort Pulaski was closed to the public and 

remained closed for five years. Limiting its use to 

the old quarantine station and CCC camp at the 

western end of the island, the Navy cordoned off 

Fort Pulaski itself, prohibiting entry except for periodic inspections by NPS personnel and others for 

the duration of the war.

The Navy’s section base on Cockspur Island 

opened on July 8, 1942, but there were urgent 

requests for funds since a “proper heating system” 

was not present and the “present water system is 

also unsatisfactory.” The Navy requested $35,000 

for that work, but over the next year is reported to 

have spent as much as $2,000,000 on new construction and other improvements to the base.40 When it 

was complete, the base included “barracks of a permanent structure, accommodating about 400 men, 

an administrative office, and air-cooled auditorium 

with moving pictures, club rooms and cooking facilities for the men, an officer’s club, gymnasium, athletic field and tennis courts.”41

By July 1944, war’s end was still a year away, but 

with the Germans on the defensive after D-Day, 

operations at the Navy’s base on Cockspur Island 

had nearly ceased and in September it was decommissioned. There was talk of re-opening the monument to the public, but all available resources were 

still being directed at the war effort, and in November 1944, the Navy’s special use permit was 

amended to allow operation of a naval receiving station at the base. The following summer, with the war 

grinding to a conclusion in the Pacific, the Navy 

turned over its facility on Cockspur Island to the 

Coast Guard, which used it as a discharge station 

until June 1946.42

Fort Pulaski and much of the island had suffered 

from the years of military occupation, and the 

superintendent complained that “the Navy had left 

us with a water system all fouled up” with “Bacilus 

coli [sic].” Besides attending to the water, park staff 

removed “grass and woods by the ton” over the 

winter of 1946-1947.43 The entire fort had to be 

cleared of debris and cleaned as well before the 

monument’s artifacts, which had been in storage at 

Ocmulgee National Monument since 1942, could be 

returned and displayed. On August 1, 1947, Fort 

38. Ralston Lattimore, Acting Superintendent, to Director, 

National Park Service, January 8, 1937. Park files.

39. Special Use permit, File 178, FOPU park files.

40. Ens. Hagenson to R. L. McLellan, chief of the Bureau 

of Yards and Docks, July 8, 1942, NARA.

41. HABS, p. 22; Meador, Administrative History, pp. 70-

71.

42. Meador, Administrative History, p. 71.

43. Superintendent’s Report, February 7, 1947.
18 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

Pulaski National Monument formally re-opened its 

gates to the public, although some of the gun carriages which park staff were rebuilding were still not 

complete.

On October 15, 1947, the area was hit by another 

hurricane, which breached part of the dyke system, 

damaged roofs on the park residences, blew down 

trees and uprooted shrubbery. Most of the next 

month was spent cleaning up from the storm.44

On August 11, 1948, the Secretary of the Interior 

cancelled the permit for the Navy’s use of Cockspur 

Island, returning Fort Pulaski and its environs to 

NPS control. The park was already utilizing a number of the old Navy and quarantine station buildings, however, including two of the residences. The 

house built in 1891 as a residence for the quarantine 

officer, which the park superintendent had judged 

the best of the residences in 1939, was occupied by 

the park’s tour leader. The other residence from the 

1890s was vacant, but the old quarantine attendants’ 

quarters, which had undergone a major remodeling 

by the Navy in 1942 and was in excellent condition, 

became the residence of Ralston Lattimore, the 

park’s new superintendent.

In 1950, the park was finally able to begin removing 

some of the dilapidated, wood-framed buildings left 

over from the old quarantine station, CCC camp, 

and Navy section base, some of which had been 

slated for removal in 1939. Some of the buildings 

were salvaged by Armstrong College for the materials they contained; others were simply razed and the 

debris carted away. By 1956, only seven principal 

buildings remained on the site (see Figure 13). In 

1960, the old quarantine officer’s house, one of the 

44. Superintendent’s monthly reports. first buildings constructed on the site in 1890-1891, 

FIGURE 13. View northwest of superintendent’s residence, c. 1970. (FOPU 

Coll.)
National Park Service 19

Historical Background and Context

was demolished, and by the time Superintendent 

Lattimore retired in October 1969, there were 

apparently only two or three buildings from the old 

quarantine station remaining: two of the residences 

built by the Public Health Service and the Navy’s 

old garage, which was being used as a shop and “fire 

house.”45 The new superintendent chose not to live 

on the island, and the superintendent’s residence 

became the residence of the park’s chief ranger.

Fort Pulaski National Monument was automatically 

listed on the National Register of Historic Places 

when it was created in 1966, and in 1974, the park 

historian completed the nomination describing the 

resource. He did not have the benefit of Ralston 

Lattimore’s knowledge of the site, however, since 

Lattimore died in February 1970. The nomination 

described the house as being “of the ‘raised cottage’ 

type” and “typical of the older homes found on surrounding islands.” However, partly because it was 

by then the only house left standing at the old quarantine station, the nomination mistakenly listed the 

present building as the quarantine officer’s residence from the 1890s. As will be shown in the following sections, that is not the case.

Nevertheless, the building remains an important 

historic resource, and the fact that it is not the original quarantine officer’s residence should not reduce 

its historical significance. It is the only building left 

standing from the quarantine station and remains a 

useful resource for interpretation of the station as a 

whole. The use of Cockspur Island as a quarantine 

station began in the mid-eighteenth century and 

continued sporadically for nearly two centuries, and 

while it is not the primary focus of interpretation at 

the park, it remains a significant part of the island’s 

story.

45. Investigation of the present maintenance building on 

the site of the Navy’s garage is needed to confirm 

that it is the same building constructed during World 

War II.
20 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History
National Park Service 21

Sometimes confused with the quarantine officer’s 

residence or another of the buildings built by the 

City of Savannah in the 1890s, this structure was 

most likely built by the Public Health Service prior 

to World War I. Remodeled and thoroughly renovated by the Navy in 1942, it was used as the park 

superintendent’s residence from 1948 until 1969, 

after which it was used as the chief ranger’s residence. In 1998, it was adapted for use as the park’s 

administrative headquarters.

Plans, specifications, or other direct evidence to 

date the building’s original construction have not 

been located, although such may exist in the records 

of the U. S. Public Health Service. However, historic 

photographs, NPS maps and plats, superintendent’s 

reports, and other documentation from the late 

1930s through the early 1950s along with the 

records of the Savannah City Council help in establishing a general chronology of the site’s evolution.

This section of the report provides an analysis of the 

house in light of historical documentation to 

describe the building’s original construction and 

the later modifications that have brought it to its 

present condition.

Original Construction

The National Register nomination gives a construction date of c. 1896, but it is almost certain that the 

building was not part of the quarantine station 

operated by the City of Savannah on Cockspur 

Island between 1889in the 1890s. The earliest photographic image of the station (Figure 9, above) may 

have been taken as late as 1910 but was certainly 

taken after 1895 when the fort’s demilune was 

altered. In the image, the original quarantine officer’s residence and the second residence for seamen 

built in 1893 are clearly visible, but not the subject 

of the present study, which was constructed 

between the two earlier houses. Research for this 

HSR included a thorough search of the quarantine 

records of Savannah City Council. Significantly, 

those records appear to document all of the structures shown in the photograph in Figure 9, but they 

do not document construction of the present building.

A description of the quarantine station developed 

by the NPS in 1939 implies a construction date of 

1917.46 However, the document also gave a 1917 

construction date for the original quarantine officer’s residence and some of the other buildings, and 

it is clear that the date was simply an estimate. In the 

NPS survey in 1952, a construction date of 1891 is 

given, but as noted above, photographic evidence 

contradicts that date, too.47 The Historic American 

Building Survey’s “Addendum to Fort Pulaski” 

states the presence of nine buildings including at 

least four residences at the station by 1903. If that is 

true, then the present structure could have been 

constructed by the Public Health Service between 

1899 and 1903.48

The War Department expanded the Public Health 

Service’s lease to include 130 acres at the western 

end of Cockspur Island in 1911, and Meador’s 

administrative history implies construction of a new 

46. “General Information, Fort Pulaski National 

Monument,” report surveying buildings on 

quarantine station property, 1939, copy in park files; 

referred to as “1939 NPS Survey” in subsequent 

references.

47. Manila cards documenting existing buildings, 

accompanying NPS report in 1952, park files; referred 

to as “1952 NPS Report” in subsequent references.

48. HABS, p. 17, lists nine buildings by 1903, but that 

appears to be based on a photograph that, like Figure 

13, could be dated incorrectly.

Chronology of 

Development and Use
22 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

wharf and other buildings, including one residence, 

around that time. 49

Characteristics of the present building and its materials place its construction in the first quarter of the 

twentieth century, most probably in the 1910s. The 

combination of hipped roof, tall dormers, and 

unboxed eaves (partially boxed in the 1990s) were 

typical of the period, as was the use of V-joint, 

tongue-and-groove boards to panel the interior. 

Dimension of framing lumber could not be determined through much of the house, but if ceiling and 

roof framing are typical, then the building’s framing 

lumber falls somewhere between the full-dimensioned lumber of the late nineteenth century and 

the standard dimensions of modern lumber that 

were in wide use after World War I. The preponderance of evidence suggests that the present structure 

was built by the Public Health Service in the second 

decade of the twentieth century.

Use

The house was built as a residence, probably for 

attendants at the quarantine station. The original 

quarantine officer’s residence (1891) that stood just 

east and north of the present structure was always 

used by the officer in charge, but other houses or 

“quarters” were also built. In 1893, a house for 

ships’ crews was constructed, which was probably 

the small house that stood southwest of the present 

building. A third house for the pharmacist and hospital attendants was built after 1900, and the architecture of the present building suggests that it is the 

same building.50 Other residences were constructed 

49. Meador, Administrative History, p. 16. The HABS 

addendum, however, places that construction 

campaign in 1917 or 1918, but also suggests that the 

present building was not constructed at that time.

FIGURE 14. View to southwest of house, c. 1939. (FOPU Coll.)
National Park Service 23

Chronology of Development and Use

but these three were the largest and most significant.

Architecture

Except for the porch added on the south side of the 

house, the building occupies its original footprint. 

Its sixteen creosoted pilings are part of original construction, as are the hipped roof and dormers. 

There were no fireplaces or chimney, the building 

being heated by stoves with metal flues.51 By the 

time the quarantine station was developed in the 

1890s and early 1900s, stoves had largely replaced 

fireplaces as a source of heat, so that even the original 1891 residence did not have a fireplace.

Porches. Open porches ran the lengths of the east, 

north, and west sides of the original house, but 

apparently not on the south where the character of 

the porch that was subsequently built and the 

absence of cast-iron joist hangers or mortises in the 

sills in that location suggest that a porch was not 

originally present. Porch posts were chamfered and 

the balustrade consisted of plain square pickets (see 

Figure 16) spaced about 4” apart. There may have 

been but two sets of stairs, one on the north side 

and another from a back door on the south side of 

the house.

Exterior. The original building appears to have 

used double-hung, four-over-four windows, none 

of which have survived. What appear to be hinges 

for exterior louvered shutters are visible on the dormer in Figure 15 and were probably present at all of 

the windows when the house was initially constructed. All of the exterior doors were replaced as 

part of the 1940s remodeling, and because the 

screened porches obscured the doors in historic 

photographs, it is not possible to characterize the 

original exterior doors. 

Some, if not most, of the building’s original siding 

and trim is original, but a study of painted finishes 

would probably be necessary to determine the 

exact extent of original material still present. Except 

for replacement of the original windows with louvered vents, the dormers appear not to have been 

altered and retain their original unboxed eaves and 

exterior finishes. Examination of Figures 15 and 16 

shows that siding, corner boards, and at least some 

window and door casing on the present building 

were probably part of original construction. The 

entire underside of the house’s floor framing was 

paneled with tongue-and-groove boards, probably 

as a means of improving the structure’s ability to 

withstand storm surge during hurricanes. The use 

of cut nails to attach these boards, most of which 

remain in place, suggests that the paneling was part 

of the building’s original construction. 50. HABS addendum, p. 17.

51. 1939 NPS Survey notes the building had no heat.

FIGURE 15. View to northeast of house in 1939, with original officer’s quarters 

visible at right. (FOPU Coll.)
24 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

Interior. Although most of the present interior finishes date to the 1940s, significant amounts of the 

original 3” tongue-and-groove flooring and 3-1/2” 

V-joint wall and ceiling paneling appear to remain in 

place beneath the later finishes.52 As with the exterior, analysis of painted surfaces might make it possible to determine which of the original baseboard 

and window and door casing might remain in place. 

All of the interior doors were apparently replaced in 

the 1940s. Without extensive removal of finishes, it 

is not possible to discern the original floor plan in 

the present building, but there may have been a central hall running north to south. The west walls of 

Rooms 101 and 105 and the east walls of Room 108 

and 109 are load-bearing and are probably original. 

Room 109 may be the only room that has not been 

expanded or subdivided in some way.

Changes Between the 

World Wars

The extent of the Navy’s remodeling of the building 

and subsequent alterations by the NPS have 

obscured many of the building’s earliest details, but 

three historic photographs (Figure 14, 15, and 16) 

along with historical documentation from the 1930s 

and physical evidence from the building itself provide significant information about the building’s use 

and appearance prior to World War II. Most of these 

alterations probably occurred during the improvements made to the quarantine station during and 

shortly after World War I. The Public Health Service 

is reported to have made some $75,000 worth of 

improvements to the Quarantine Station in 1936, 

but how that money was spent has not been documented. Less-than-pristine building conditions that 

are apparent in photographs from the late 1930s 

suggest that most of the work occurred earlier rather 

than later during the period between the world 

wars.

Use

At some point, again probably during or shortly 

after World War I, the house was divided into a 

duplex, with a four-room apartment with bathroom 

on the east side of the building and a three-room 

apartment with bathroom on the west side.53 The 

house remained a residence for hospital staff until 

the mid-1930s, when it was occupied by CCC 

employees. In 1939, CCC clerk David Scales occu52. Parts of the original wall and ceiling finishes are 

visible from the attic.

FIGURE 16. View to southeast of house, 1939. (FOPU Coll.)

53. 1939 NPS Survey.
National Park Service 25

Chronology of Development and Use

pied the apartment on the south side of the building 

and CCC Foreman Van W. Faulkner occupied the 

apartment on the north side.54

Architecture

Except to accommodate bathrooms, there may not 

have been many changes to the house’s original 

floor plan when the two apartments were created. 

Since meals were taken at a common dining hall, a 

kitchen was still not necessary.

Porches. Creation of the apartments probably precipitated enclosure of the south end of the west 

porch to create a bathroom. The flat roof of the 

porch remained in place, and the exterior walls 

were finished with typical lapped siding. The new 

space had two windows on the west and one on the 

south, all of them wooden, double-hung, four-overfour like those originally used in the dormers and 

elsewhere. In Figure 16, a cast-iron plumbing stack 

is visible in the northwest corner of what is now 

Room 107. Outside, at the south end of the room, a 

small corrugated-metal shed is visible that apparently housed a water heater. A sheet-metal stove 

flue runs up the side of the house from this small 

shed, and a large water tank is visible inside the 

shed. Pipes can be seen running to and from the 

tank, with a cast-iron stove apparently the source of 

heat for the apparatus.

Screening of the porches probably occurred in the 

1920s as well. Digital enhancement of the photograph in Figure 16 reveals what appears to be a wall 

with a door dividing the north porch just west of the 

main entrance, apparently separating the porches 

between the two apartments. Framing for the 

screening differs from side to side, with the east side 

using more closely spaced studs and cross braces 

similar to that used on the original quarantine officer’s house. Framing for the west porch screening 

omits cross bracing entirely and sets the studs on 

intervals twice that apparent on the east porch. In 

addition, another set of stairs was constructed from 

the north porch in the vicinity of the present handicapped lift, apparently to provide access to the west 

side of the divided porch. In addition to screening 

the original porches, a new porch, which no longer 

exists, was constructed on the south side of the 

building. Running the width of the original structure (not including the porches), this porch was 

only about six feet deep, considerably narrower 

than the original porches and the present south 

porch. The porch was apparently built without bannisters but was fully screened, and wooden stairs 

descended to the ground on the west side.

54. 1939 NPS survey.

FIGURE 17. View to northwest of house about 1950 with most of the Navy’s 

alterations still intact. (FOPU Coll.)
26 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

Exterior. The nature of the original roof-covering is 

not certain, but given the probable date of construction and the presence of solid decking, asphalt composition roofing may have been used. The roof 

covering visible in Figures 13-15 cannot be original, 

but probably replaced the original in the 1930s. This 

second roof covering used cement-asbestos, hexagonal or “French” shingles, a relatively new material 

that was also installed on some of the other structures at the station around the same time. Porches 

retained their original standing-seam metal roofs, 

but the new south porch appears to have been 

roofed with corrugated metal (see Figure 15). The 

building’s pilings remained unenclosed throughout 

this period, and there may have been few alterations 

to the interior after the alterations around the end of 

or shortly after World War I. Along with running 

water to the bathrooms (but perhaps not to a 

kitchen), electric lighting was added on the interior, 

although the building continued to be heated by 

cast-iron stoves.

U. S. Navy Remodeling, 

1942

In November 1941, the Treasury Department 

licensed the U. S. Navy to include the old Quarantine Station as part of the new Navy patrol base 

being established on Cockspur Island, and in March 

Fort Pulaski National Monument was closed to the 

public for the duration of the war. Spending a 

reported $2,000,000 on new construction and adaptation of existing buildings, the Navy quickly created a sprawling facility that included housing and 

recreation facilities. The small residence that was 

built on the southwest side of the station in the 

1890s, for instance, was converted to an officer’s 

lounge, apparently by removing some interior walls 

to create a larger space.

Use

Why the Navy did not choose to renovate the original quarantine officer’s residence as a residence for 

the commandant is not known, since the park 

superintendent had identified it as “the best residential structure in the area” when he submitted his survey of the quarantine station in 1939. Whatever the 

reason, it was the old quarantine attendants’ quarters that the Navy chose instead to be “improved 

and used as headquarters residence by Commandant of Navy Base.”55

Architecture

The Navy’s changes to the Quarantine Attendant’s 

Quarters appear to have been extensive, especially 

on the interior of the building.

Exterior. The original chamfered posts and bannisters and the screening added after World War I were 

removed and all of the porches completely 

rescreened on new wooden framing that did not 

include bannisters. The Navy also installed halfround gutters and round downspouts around the 

porches for the first time.

The main entrance to the house remained on the 

north porch, and the stairs there were reconstructed 

with approximately the same width as the original 

stairs and with the same descent perpendicular to 

the building. Stairs appear not to have been present 

on the east and west porches until this time, and 

new stairs on those sides of the house were much 

narrower than the front stairs and descended parallel and not perpendicular to the porch. The east stair 

descended in two flights, separated by a landing, 

with the second flight turned ninety degrees to the 

first.

The south porch, which had been added after World 

War I, was removed completely and rebuilt to its 

present dimensions, with stairs similar to those on 

the east side of the house. By rebuilding this porch, 

the space below was made wide enough to function 

as a garage.

The Navy also enclosed the basement level of the 

house for the first time by installing wood-framed 

walls beneath the perimeter of all of the porches. 

Finished with weatherboard, these walls included 

doors on the east and west sides and several small 

four-light windows. There was also a series of small 

round windows, like portholes, on the north and 

part of the east elevations. Presumably all of these 

openings were simply for light and ventilation, since 

there is no evidence that the interior of the basement level was ever finished space.

The cement-asbestos roof remained in place, but a 

small gabled roof was installed over Room 107 and 

covered with asphalt shingles, presumably to eliminate inherent problems in the flat roof at that location. There were also extensive changes to the 

55. FOPU Superintendent to Regional Director, Region 

One, November 6, 1952, FOPU files.
National Park Service 27

Chronology of Development and Use

building’s fenestration. French doors replaced all of 

the original windows except for those in the bathrooms, the kitchen, and Room 107. The trio of windows on the south side of Room 106 were not 

replaced by doors, but new sash were installed at all 

locations. These changes to windows and doors 

may have necessitated replacement of some siding 

and trim, but how much is not certain.

Interior. Except for enclosure of the west porch, 

which was first done in the 1960s, the building’s 

present interior floor plan is the result of the Navy’s 

remodeling of the house in 1942. If it had not 

already occurred, Room 107 was created by 

removal of the exterior wall and combining the 

bathroom built on the west porch in the 1920s with 

whatever space existed on the interior.

What had most likely been a central hall was infilled 

with closets and a half bath as well as space for construction of the present brick chimney. The chimney served a wood-burning fireplace on the west 

wall of Room 101, which became the house’s living 

room. Two full baths and a half bath were installed 

in the house. One of the bathrooms (102) and the 

half bath (104) remain intact, but the second bathroom, which occupied the western end of Room 

106, was removed in 1998.

The kitchen (Room 108) probably dates to this 

period. Rudimentary kitchen facilities might have 

been added to the building at an earlier date, but 

with employees of the quarantine station eating in a 

common mess hall, there was no need for kitchen 

facilities in the original house. The first complete 

kitchen appears to have been added in 1942 for the 

convenience of the commanding officer. It was connected by a swinging door to Room 109, which was 

used as a dining room. Rooms 105 and 107, both of 

which had private bathrooms, were used as bedrooms. The smaller room that occupied the eastern 

two-thirds of Room 106 was later referred to as a 

“sewing room,” but its original use has not been 

identified.

Nearly all of the existing interior finishes in the 

house were installed in 1942. The original tongueand-groove flooring was covered by new oak floorFIGURE 18. View of house from northeast, January 1960. Note unusual 

porthole windows and missing front stairs. (FOPU Coll.)
28 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

ing, while the old V-joint tongue-and-groove paneling on the walls was covered with new finishes. In 

Rooms 100, 101, 107, and 109, tongue-and-groove 

hardwood paneling was installed, and randomwidth, V-joint, tongue-and-groove boards were 

used to panel all but Room 107, where sheets of 

hardwood plywood paneling were used. In the 

other rooms, the original paneling was covered by 

sheets of a finish-grade plywood that featured an 

unusual beveled edge, and that same material covered all of the original board ceilings. The Navy also 

appears to have installed a central heating system for 

the first time. Although nothing remains of that system, it is reported to have included a boiler and radiators, but it is not known if it was a steam or a hot 

water system.56 The small room near the center of 

the basement was probably installed at this time as 

well and may have included some components of 

the heating system. The Navy used the house 

throughout the war and, at war’s end, turned it and 

the rest of the base over to the Coast Guard. Not 

until June 1946 did military use of the island finally 

come to an end.

NPS Alterations, 1947-

1960

In spite of the massive expenditure to create the 

Navy base in 1942, Fort Pulaski and much of the 

island suffered from the years of military occupation. As a result, the NPS spent nearly two years trying to return the monument and its facilities to good 

order. Among other things, the superintendent 

complained that “the Navy had left us with a water 

system all fouled up” with “Bacilus coli [sic],” which 

may have prevented them from immediately reoccupying the residential buildings.57 Besides 

attending to the water, park staff removed “grass 

and woods by the ton” over the winter of 1946-

1947.58

56. Interview with park’s chief of maintenance Mike 

Hosti, who removed parts of the system in the 1970s.

FIGURE 19. View of house from southeast, January 1960. Note jalousie 

windows installed in 1953 and the closed dormer window. (FOPU Coll.)

57. Superintendent’s Report, August 7, 1949.

58. Superintendent’s Report, February 7, 1947.
National Park Service 29

Chronology of Development and Use

In spite of these problems, the Navy commandant’s 

former residence was still in good condition, and 

sometime in 1947, the superintendent made it a residence for himself and his family. The heat 

remained a problem, however, and he and his family 

spent the winter of 1948-1949 in Savannah. In February 1949, he reported that a “free-standing [brick] 

chimney” had been constructed as a flue for the 

new boiler installation. The chimney, which no longer exists, was 31’ high and stood just off the west 

porch,”anchored to the veranda roof by two iron 

bands and tie rods.”59

In February 1950, the superintendent reported that 

“the Superintendent’s residence has been put in an 

excellent state of repair.” Work that had been 

accomplished over the preceding year included 

“replacement of rotted timbers and of three of the 

four outside stairways.” The fourth stairway was the 

original entrance on the north side of the house, 

facing the river. With nearly all traffic to the house 

coming from the southeast by that time, the main 

entrance was shifted to the east side of the house, 

and the north stairs were not replaced. The stairs on 

the south side of the house were latticed below and 

descended to the superintendent’s rose garden just 

southwest of the house.

Also in the fall and winter of 1949-1950, the standing-seam metal roofs on the east, west, and north 

verandas were repaired and the corrugated roofing 

on the south porch was replaced entirely. “Excess 

overhead steam and hot water pipes” were also 

removed, and the exterior received two coats of 

paint.60

 Between 1951 and 1953, the NPS began removing 

some of the old quarantine station and CCC buildings that it had been planning to remove when the 

war interrupted. The job was larger now since many 

of the Navy’s buildings were also unneeded. A number of these buildings were actually sold for salvage, 

with Savannah State College acquiring two of the 

buildings. The superintendent may even have used 

salvaged material to begin enclosing the porches on 

the house. In May 1953, he reported that “we have 

installed nine additional panels of glass jalousies on 

the rear [west] veranda . . . and now lack only 6 panels of having the veranda completely enclosed.”61

By the time Superintendent Lattimore retired in 

59. Superintendent’s Report, February 3, 1949.

FIGURE 20. View of house from northwest just prior to 1998 remodeling. (FOPU Coll.)

60. Superintendent’s Report, February 9, 1950.

61. Superintendent’s Report, May 4, 1953.
30 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

1969, the west porch had also been enclosed to create the space that is now Room 110, but instead of 

jalousie windows, aluminum-framed, awning windows were used to enclose this porch.

Modern Alterations

Over the last thirty years, appreciation for the building as a cultural resource has grown, but alterations 

have also continued. In 1974, the house’s old steam 

heating system was removed, including the radiators, and a new forced-air heating system installed. 

The brick chimney on the west side of the house 

which served the boiler was removed around the 

same time. 

In 1975, gutters which had been installed by the 

Navy during World War II were replaced, and that 

fall the exterior was repainted. The old cementasbestos roofing was apparently replaced by asphalt 

shingles that same year.62 Around the same time, 

lightning struck and damaged the house’s main 

chimney, and it was rebuilt by park staff in its current configuration.63

In 1984, a new septic system was installed at a cost of 

$1900, replacing the old WWII-era system, which 

was abandoned. Walls and ceilings were also 

repainted on the interior of the residence that year. 

In 1989, the exterior of the building was painted 

again, and a second asphalt-shingle roof was 

installed in 1990. A security system was installed and 

gutters replaced in 1992. In 1996, the exterior of the 

building was repainted and ceramic tile was 

installed in the kitchen. The following year the interior was repainted and the oak flooring was refinished.

In 1998 an $85,000 cyclic maintenance project was 

completed that hoped “to restore the original 

appearance of the historic cottage.” Although there 

was insufficient documentation to accomplish that 

goal, the project dramatically changed the building’s 

exterior. The work included removing the jalousie 

window walls, reconstructing the entire roof on the 

62. Superintendent’s Report, February 1974 and January 

1975.

FIGURE 21. View of building from northwest, 2003. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

63. Interview with park’s chief of maintenance Mike 

Hosti.
National Park Service 31

Chronology of Development and Use

west porch, and installing a balustrade, which that 

porch had never had. On the west porch, the aluminum-framed awning windows were also removed 

but they were replaced with wooden double-hung 

windows with one-over-one sash. On the east and 

north porches, all of the posts and framing for 

screening were removed and replaced by the present bannisters and posts, which only approximated 

the appearance of those features when they existed 

before World War II.

Stairs to the porches were also rebuilt. While the 

stairs on the west side of the house were reconstructed in their historic configuration, those on the 

south and east were rebuilt to match the wide, 

straight flight of stairs that was reconstructed at the 

main entrance on the north side of the house. 

Although there had once been a single wide flight of 

stairs at the rear, it was removed along with the original west porch, and the stairs built to the second, 

substantially larger south porch constructed by the 

Navy in 1942 descended in a single narrow flight 

parallel to the porch. The east porch had no stairs 

until World War II, and when constructed by the 

Navy they consisted of two narrow flights, the first 

running parallel to the house like those to the west 

porch and the second descending to the ground 

perpendicular to the first flight.

The project also included removing and reconstructing all of the exterior walls at the basement 

level. The walls had already been significantly 

altered from their appearance when first con

structed by the Navy during World War II, and the 

decision was made to construct new plywood walls 

covered with plastic lattice “to give the cottage an 

open, raised appearance.” The work was done 

partly to mitigate the presence of lead paint on the 

siding at the basement level but also, it was mistakenly believed, “to remove non-historic elements of 

the cottage to return it to its historic appearance.”

In 2003, three windows in Room 107 were removed 

and replaced with the present vinyl windows. The 

building was also rewired and “flooring, tile and fixtures in the quarters bathrooms were repaired and 

replaced through contract.” In addition, Room 106 

was expanded by removing the bathroom that 

adjoined it on the west and closing the window and 

door that originally opened into it. The project also 

improved the building’s accessibility. Doors were 

widened at several locations on the interior, and the 

porch floors were rebuilt to eliminate the step at 

door thresholds.

In August 2003, Carolina Solarworks installed a 

lightly tinted film on the windows in Room 110 to 

reduce UV light damage. In December 2003, three 

5’ by 8’ glass panels were placed inside the French 

doors on the east side of Room 105, the northernmost French door on the east side of Room 101, and 

the French doors on the north side of Room 101. 

Work was done by Roy Moore with Rick’s Glass as 

subcontractor. Finally in January 2004, white aluminum gutters were installed around the exterior of 

the building under contract with Roy Moore.
32 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

Chronology

1733 Colonization of Georgia begins

1736 John Wesley stops at Cockspur Island to pray

1761 Construction of Fort George on Cockspur Island

1767 100 acres on Tybee Island at Lazaretto Creek purchased by city for quarantine station

1776 Fort George abandoned

1785 Tybee Quarantine Station falls into disrepair and new station built on Cockspur

1790 Governor appoints first “Health Officer” for Savannah

1798 Marine Hospital Service created by Congress

1819 Savannah shipping quarantined in New York due to supposed yellow fever outbreak

1823 Savannah City Council begins appointment of Health Officers

1826 Dengue fever epidemic quarantines Savannah

1830 Federal government buys private property on Cockspur

1832 First cholera pandemic in North America

1841 Yellow fever epidemic quarantines Savannah

1845 State cedes remainder of Cockspur Island to the federal government

1848-1849 Second pandemic of cholera in North America

1851 Dengue fever epidemic quarantines Savannah

1866 Cholera, yellow fever epidemics sweep United States

1870 Marine Hospital Service reorganized as bureau of Treasury Department

1871, February John Maynard Woodworth appointed first Supervising Surgeon of Marine Hospital Service

1877 Savannah Board of Sanitary Commissioners created

1878 13,000 killed in yellow fever pandemic in U. S.

Congress passes National Quarantine Act

Dec 1881 Contract let to rebuild Hospital and officer’s building at Tybee quarantine station

Feb 17, 1882 Contract for Tybee quarantine station “paid in full”

May 1883 Thomas Hart hired as boatman “between this city and the Quarantine Station of this port” for 

$40/month

1880 or 1883 National South Atlantic Quarantine Station established at Blackbeard Island

1883 National Quarantine Station established at Sapelo Island

1885 Savannah City Council reports river dredging is rendering Tybee quarantine station useless

May 1888 Savannah City Council begins development of wharfs on Long Island

May 1889 City of Savannah begins leasing northwest side of Cockspur Island for a quarantine station

Feb 1890 Initial bids for construction at station are rejected

January 1891 Construction complete and station in operation

Sept 1892 Cholera scare precipitates orders to fumigate incoming vessels

May 1893 Contract let for construction of a Fumigating Building on Cockspur Island
National Park Service 33

Chronology of Development and Use

April 1899 City of Savannah leases quarantine station to U. S. Marine Hospital Service for trial period

Oct 1900 All “buildings, wharves, and disinfecting apparatus” at the station sold to U.S. government for 

$20,000

1901 Marine Hospital Service re-organized as Public Health and Marine Hospital Service

1910 South Atlantic Quarantine Station closes on Blackbeard Island

Sept 1911 War Department expands lease for quarantine station to include 130 acres

1912 Public Health and Marine Hospital Service re-organized as U. S. Public Health Service

c. 1912 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters constructed

1918 Quarantine Station expanded to receive German POWs, but never used for that purpose

c. 1920 Room added to west porch and bathrooms installed; porches screened

October 15, 1924 Fort Pulaski designated a National Monument

1933 Administration of fort transferred from War Department to Interior Department

May 15, 1934 CCC camp established on Cockspur Island

1936 $75,000 spent in improvements to Quarantine Station

Spring 1937 Cockspur Island Quarantine Station closed

August 1937 War Department transfers Quarantine Station to Interior Department

May 13, 1938 New concrete bridge from McQueen’s Island to Cockspur Island opens to traffic

1939 Quarantine Point removed as part of river channel improvements, causing demolition of some 

buildings and relocation of others

November 1941 Interior Department issues permit to War Department for construction of a Navy base at the old 

quarantine station

March 1942 War Department notifies NPS that the entire island will be under military jurisdiction for the 

duration of the war; Fort Pulaski National Monument closed to the public

June 8, 1942 U. S. Navy Section Base opens on Cockspur Island; quarantine attendants’ quarters remodeled

September 1944 Navy base decommissioned

November 1944 Navy receiving station established at Quarantine Station

Summer 1945 Navy turns receiving station over to Coast Guard

June 1946 Coast Guard discharge station deactivated

August 1, 1947 Fort Pulaski National Monument reopens to the public

October 11, 1947 Fort Pulaski Centennial celebration

October 15, 1947 Hurricane strikes, damaging roofs and vegetation

Fall 1948 Residences at quarantine station repainted

1949 Second chimney for boiler constructed; stairways rebuilt on south, east, and west sides; front 

(north) stairs removed

spring 1953 Enclosure of south porch begun

c. 1960 West porch enclosed with aluminum awning windows

Sept 1962 Construction begins on new visitors center

1974 New forced-air heating system replaces old steam system

Chronology
34 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

1975 Gutters installed, exterior repainted, cement-asbestos roofing replaced by asphalt

c. 1975 Main chimney damaged by lightning and rebuilt

1984 New septic system installed; interior of house repainted

1989 Exterior repainted

1990 New asphalt roofing installed

1992 Security system installed and gutters replaced

1996 Exterior repainted; ceramic tile installed in kitchen

1997 Interior painted and oak flooring refinished

1998 Exterior remodeled

2003 Vinyl windows replace wooden windows in Room 107; building rewired; bathroom next to Room 

106 removed; handicapped accessibility is improved by widening some interior doorways, 

reconstructing the north and east porch floors, and installation of a lift on the north porch

Chronology
National Park Service 35

Located a few hundred feet from the north shore of 

Cockspur Island and about a mile northwest of Fort 

Pulaski, the old Quarantine Assistants Quarters, 

now park headquarters, is wood framed, raised on 

creosoted wooden piles. The hipped roof is nearly 

pyramidal and there were originally shed-roofed 

porches on three sides of the building, with a porch 

added on the south side during the historic period. 

Originally built as a residence, the house has served 

as park headquarters and administrative offices 

since 2003.

The principal elevation is oriented generally toward 

the north-northeast and the Savannah River, but it 

will be assumed for descriptive purposes in this 

report that the building’s primary orientation is simply to the north. The building is nearly square in 

plan and occupies a footprint that encompasses 

nearly 3,500 square feet, including the porches. 

Interior floor space amounts to around 2,150 square 

feet on the main floor. The plan of the house is 

irregular with seven main rooms, plus an entrance 

hall, two half-bathrooms, and several closets.

The basement level has been fully enclosed, but is 

largely unfinished. A garage is located under the 

south porch, and part of the area under what was 

the west porch has been finished as a laundry and 

break room for volunteers.

FIGURE 22. View to northwest of house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

Physical 

Description
36 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

Site

Much of the site was created after dredging of the 

main river channel began in 1867 and large quantities of sand, mud, and rock began to be dumped 

between Cockspur and Long Islands. The site is 

nearly level and elevated less than five feet above 

high tide, but is fully grassed and dotted with palms, 

live oaks, pine, and pecan. The concrete sidewalks 

on the north and east sides of the site are historic as 

is part of the concrete pad in front of the garage. 

The pavement in both was apparently added during 

World War II.

Foundation

The house is set on a foundation created by sixteen, 

circular-sawn, creosoted, timber piles supporting a 

platform constructed of similar creosoted timbers. 

Twelve piles support the perimeter of the main body 

of the house and another four are arranged in a 

smaller, concentric square within the perimeter 

piles. Piles range from 11-1/2” by 11-1/2” to 12-3/4” 

by 12-3/4” but are generally 12” by 12”. Piles are 

cross-braced with circular-sawn timbers 3” to 3-1/

2” by 11-1/2” to 12” bolted to the piles. The piles 

elevate the building’s wood frame approximately 8’-

4” above grade. Cast-iron straps, 1/2” by 3” by 24”, 

are used to bolt each pile to 12” by 12” beams on 

which the house’s sills and joists rest. Beams run 

directly beneath the outside walls of the house on 

the north and south sides but are set back from the 

outer wall about 14” on the east and west sides.

FIGURE 23. View to southeast of house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 24. View west under north porch, 

showing typical piles and cross-bracing. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 37

Physical Description

There is no evidence that the piles and beams forming the foundation have ever been replaced, 

although there is at least one brace west of the chimney base which was probably added during World 

War II. Piles and beams are in relatively good condition. There has been some oxidation of the iron 

straps and bolts, and termite damage is visible on the 

pile at the southeast corner of the house and in isolated areas elsewhere.

Originally open, the house’s foundation was first 

enclosed in 1942, but all of the existing perimeter 

enclosure is modern, installed in the 1990s. Running 

beneath the outer perimeter of the porches, the 

enclosure consists of two courses of concrete block 

and a wall conventionally framed with pressuretreated studs and plates replacing any original piles 

that may have remained. The wall framing is covered 

on the exterior with plywood, painted black, which 

is itself covered with white plastic lattice panels.

A small storage room, added after 1939, is located in 

the southeast quadrant of the basement. Set on a 

concrete slab, the room is framed with 2” by 4” 

(nominal dimension) studs and finished with 1” by 

7-1/4” novelty siding attached with wire nails.

Chimney

The existing chimney and fireplace were constructed by the Navy in 1942 and are in good condition. The foundation of the chimney is formed by a 

two-tier, concrete base poured in forms constructed 

with 6”-wide boards. The bottom tier of the base 

measures about 6’-6” by 9’ and rises about 14” 

before stepping in to the second tier, which is about 

4’-6” by 7’. It rises about 24” to the bottom of the 

brick chimney base, which itself is about 2’-6” by 5’ 

in plan. Brick are standard, hard-fired, red brick set 

with a hard, grey, Portland mortar. There was apparently no cleaning of the masonry after construction, 

leading to its present stained appearance. A castiron door for an ash dump is located at the base of 

the brick shaft. Hinges in the frame are broken and 

the door is detached. All elements are rusting.

 The chimney is corbeled out above the attic floor to 

a wider stack that runs through the roof. The reason 

for this corbeling is not clear, unless it was simply to 

create a larger, more visually appealing, chimney 

stack above the roof line. The top of the chimney 

FIGURE 25. View of typical pile-beam-crossbrace 

FIGURE 26. View of typical iron strap that 

secures house framing to pilings. (NPS-SEROCR, 2003)

FIGURE 27. View of typical cast-iron Ushaped bracket used to hang beams for 

porch floor joists. (NPS-SERO0CR, 2003)
38 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

was originally finished with a stone or concrete slab 

raised above the flue opening, but it was damaged 

by a lightning strike in the 1970s and the chimney 

was rebuilt to its current configuration by the park’s 

maintenance crew.

Framing

The building’s framing could not be closely examined since, except for the roof framing, nearly all of 

it is covered by flooring, ceilings, and wall coverings. 

Lumber appears to have been all circular sawn and, 

although not directly observed, connections were

probably made with wire nails. Although none of 

the wall framing could be examined, the building 

appears to have been built with a conventional 

wood frame resting atop the wooden piles and 

beams that form its foundation. The building’s 

frame appears to be in generally good condition, 

and although there is no visible evidence that framing is overloaded or inadequate, hidden termite 

damage and rusting fasteners may have reduced the 

building’s capacity to withstand storm damage. 

Floors and Ceilings

The underside of all of the building’s interior floor 

framing is paneled with plain, tongue-and-groove 

boards, 5-1/2” wide and attached with cut nails. At 

several locations, the paneling has been removed, 

generally to provide access to plumbing lines, and 

the openings have been patched with modern plywood. The paneling was probably installed as a 

means of hurricane-proofing the house by keeping 

storm surges from forcing up interior floors. The 

use of cut nails, which is generally associated with 

the 19th century, may have mislead recent researchers into identifying the building with an earlier era 

of the site’s history. However, cut nails, which were 

thought to hold better than wire nails, continued to 

be used for flooring and other purposes throughout 

the 20th century.

A small opening on the southwest side of the basement allows limited characterization of the floor 

framing. Although sills could not be directly 

observed, joists appear to be generally 1-1/2” by 7-

1/2” and nailing patterns indicate 16” centers, 

dimensions which are typical of the twentieth century. There is no evidence that the original floor 

FIGURE 28. View northeast of chimney stack as 

it rises through the attic. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 29. View southwest of chimney breast. 

(NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 30. View of underside of east porch, with 

new flooring visible at right where older flooring 

has been removed. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 39

Physical Description

framing has been altered or replaced, except possibly in

limited areas under the bathrooms and kitchen. 

Ceiling joists are generally 2” by 6” (nominal dimension) on 24” centers. These appear to bear on the 

north-south walls that may have originally defined a 

center hallway through the house.

Porches. The porch floors are framed by joists set 

between beams that run perpendicular to the outside walls of the house. On the north, east, and nowenclosed west porches, these beams were hung from 

U-shaped, cast-iron brackets that are probably 

bolted to the sills. Only one of the original beams 

has not been replaced by modern material of slightly 

smaller dimension; it is located under Room 107, 

which was created by enclosing part of the west 

porch prior to World War II. On the south porch, 

which was added after original construction and 

then completely rebuilt in 1942, the iron brackets 

are not present.

Floor joists for the porches are generally 1-1/2” by 

7-1/2” set on 16” centers, but nearly all of that material appears to be modern. The floor framing of the 

south porch appears to be the oldest, with the 

remainder perhaps dating to the last quarter of the 

twentieth century.

Walls

All of the wall framing is obscured by paneling and 

other finishes except for a very limited area around 

the chimney. Precise dimensions could not be measured, but the walls appear to have been conventionally framed with 2” by 4” (nominal dimension) 

studs on 16” centers. Exterior walls are sheathed in 

plain pine boards, 1” by 6”, laid diagonally and running to the bottom of the outsides of the large creosoted beams that form the building’s foundation.

Roof

Except for the south porch, the roof of which was 

completely rebuilt in 1998, most of the building’s 

historic roof structure remains intact and in generally good condition. Asphalt shingles were installed 

on the main roof in 1990 and standing-seam metal 

on the porch roofs in 1998.

Main Roof. The main roof, which features a 

hipped-roof dormer on its east and its west slopes, is 

framed by 1-3/4” by 5-1/2” rafters set on 24”-26”

FIGURE 31. View of typical paneling on 

underside of first floor joists. (NPS-SERO-CR, 

FIGURE 32. View northwest in attic showing 

cross-braced collar beams on main roof. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 33. View of typical ceiling joists, with 

original tongue-and-groove ceiling paneling 

visible beneath modern insulation. (NPS-SEROCR, 2003)
40 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

centers with 1” by 6” (nominal dimension) ridgeboards. The rafters are braced and cross-braced by 

two sets of collar beams (2” by 4”, nominal dimension), with the set running east and west notched 

and set over the other set which runs north and 

south. Knee braces, 2” by 4” (nominal dimension), 

have been installed on all sides of the attic, probably 

after the house was constructed.

The roof structure above Room 107 was constructed after 1939 and covered the shed roof of the 

original porch that had been enclosed at an earlier 

date to create the room itself. Rafters are 2” by 6” 

(nominal dimension) on 16” centers without a ridge 

board.

Roof Covering. Roof decking is generally composed of 1” by 8” boards, although a few narrower 

boards are also present. The roof covering is dimensional asphalt shingles installed in 1990. It remains 

in generally good condition, except for stains from a 

rusting plumbing stack on the east side and from 

what appears to be mildew or other botanical agent 

on the north and west sides.

Porch Roofs. The framing for the porch roofs 

could not be directly examined, but rafters are 2” by 

4” set on 26” centers and pitched to slope about 18” 

from the sides of the house to the outside of the 

porches. How much of the original rafters and 

decking remains intact is not clear. Above the staircase to the building’s primary entrance on the north 

porch, a shallow gable diverts run-off from the roof 

away from the stairs. A gable has been a feature of 

the porch roof at that location since at least before 

World War II and may have been have been an original feature of the house. The historic gable was 

removed and redesigned when the porches were reroofed with the present standing-seam metal in 

1998. The porches did not have gutters originally 

but gutters were added by the Navy during World 

War II. Gutters were half-round with round downspouts and were probably manufactured in galvanized steel.

Doors and 

Windows

The Navy’s remodeling of the building in 1942 

included replacement of original windows and 

doors throughout the building, although many of 

FIGURE 34. View east, showing original dormer. 

Note that modern fascia replaces original crown 

molding. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 35. View south, showing modern gable 

over porch entrance. Note that modern fascia 

replaces original crown molding. (NPS-SEROCR, 2003)

FIGURE 36. View of east dormer with original 

treatment of eaves still intact. (NPS-SERO-CR, 

2003)
National Park Service 41

Physical Description

the original openings remained intact. The full 

extent of the Navy’s alterations to the building’s fenestration is not certain, since no plans for the Navy 

remodeling have been located and the facades of the 

building are mostly obscured by screening on the 

porches in the photographs of the building taken 

before World War II. Except for the vinyl windows 

in Room 107 and the door and windows in Room 

110, all of the windows and doors date to the 1940s 

and should be considered historic. The historic 

wooden sash from Room 107 are presently stored in 

the storage room in the basement underneath Room 

105.

Doors

Pairs of double French doors are located on the 

north, east, and south sides of the house. All are 

about 5’-0” by 8’-0” with ten lights in each door. 

Doors are hung with 4”, brass, butt hinges with 

movable, ball-end pins, and the entry door in each 

set is fitted with a mortise lock with oval brass knobs 

and a rectangular, brass, escutcheon plate. Sliding, 

brass, barrel bolts, originally fastened the other leaf 

of each pair of doors. Some of these have been 

recently replaced with cast-aluminum bolts, and 

most of those that remain have been painted.

A pair of double French doors on the west side of 

Room 109 was removed after 1960. The original 

exterior door at the west end of the kitchen (Room 

108), which was 2’-8” by 8-0” and may have 

included a transom, has also disappeared. It is not 

known if any of these doors still survive in storage at 

the park.

The three doors at the basement level are all modern, steel doors, six paneled, 3’-0” by 6’-8”, dating to 

the remodeling of the basement walls in the 1990s. 

The six-panel entrance door on the west side of 

Room 110 was installed when the west porch was 

enclosed in the 1960s.

Windows

The historic window sash, which were probably 

four-over-four, were all replaced in 1942 by doublehung, wooden sash, six-over-six, with aluminum 

spring-loaded lifts replacing what were probably 

originally lead counterweights.

Three sizes of double-hung, six-over-six, windows 

were present historically. The largest, which were in 

Room 107 and measured about 2’-8” by 5’-9”, were 

replaced by the present vinyl windows in the 1990s. 

These windows have insulated glass with false muntins, and because the new window sash and frame 

were set in the old frame, the actual window opening is significantly smaller than the historic opening.

FIGURE 37. VIew of typical mortised lock installed 

with French doors in 1942. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 38. View of typical double French doors, 

these located on the east side of Room 101. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)
42 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

In Room 106, a trio of double-hung, six-over-six 

windows date to 1942. They measure about 2’-6” by 

5’-9”. In the bathroom (Room 102), there is a single, 

double-hung, six-over-six window dating to 1942. 

Measuring 2’-6” by 4’-4”, it is glazed with an 

unusual, broadly-ribbed, prismatic glass that renders the window translucent. A similar window was 

also present in the bathroom that was removed 

from the west end of Room 106 in the 1990s. The 

window at the west end of the kitchen (Room 108) 

is a similar size, but it is glazed with plain, clear glass. 

Double-hung windows were also once present in 

each of the dormers, but these were replaced by the 

present louvered vents in the 1990s. The eleven 

windows that enclose the west porch were installed 

in 1998. Windows there have one-over-one sash 

with insulated glass and measure 2’-7” by 5’-11”.

Exterior Finishes

All of the exterior finishes are in excellent condition 

and much of the building’s historic fabric remains 

intact. Although the Navy’s changes to the building’s fenestration during World War II probably 

necessitated some changes to the siding and trim, 

the extent of those changes is not certain. Much of 

the siding and trim, however, probably dates to the 

building’s original construction.

Siding and Trim

Beveled siding is laid with a typical 5” reveal but the 

material itself is unusually thin, measuring about 3/

8” thick versus 1/2” that is typical for most such siding. Outside walls are finished with 5”-wide corner 

boards and 1” quarter round at the corners. 

Window and door casing is typically 1” by 3-1/2”, 

installed without drip caps. Sills are typically 1-1/2” 

thick and do not extend beyond the edge of the casing.

Eaves on the main block of the house were originally not boxed, and instead of a fascia board, 2-1/

2” to 3” crown molding finished the ends of the 

exposed rafter tails. This treatment remains intact 

on the dormers, but a 6”-wide fascia now covers the 

ends of the rafters, obscuring them from view. 

Porches

Only the ceilings and roof structure of the east and 

north porches date to the building’s original conFIGURE 39. View of typical double-hung window 

from the historic period. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 40. View of translucent, prismatic glass 

in bathroom. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 43

Physical Description

struction, although these features may be present 

beneath modern finishes on the enclosed west 

porch. Ceiling boards are 3/4” by 3-3/4”, attached 

directly to the rafters, and slanted about 18” from 

the outside of the house to the outside of the porch 

floor.

The south porch floor framing dates to 1942, but the 

flooring is modern and the entire roof structure and 

ceiling were reconstructed in 1998. Also in 1998, the 

floors of the east and north porches were redesigned and new flooring installed. In order to make 

entrances fully accessible, the new flooring was 

installed at a significantly steeper pitch, eliminating 

the threshold at the door openings. To accommodate this change without reframing the entire floor, 

sleepers were installed on top of the flooring and 

joists closest to the house, while the outer two feet 

of the earlier flooring was completely removed, 

allowing the new flooring to rest directly on the two 

outside joists.

The porches were screened after World War I, and 

the original bannisters and chamfered columns were 

lost during the Navy renovation of the building in 

1942. The framing for screening installed by the 

Navy was removed when the porches were enclosed 

in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1998, bannisters and 

posts were replaced again on all of the porches. 

Existing porch posts are modern, 3-1/2” by 3-1/2”. 

Balustrades are modern, 1-1/2” by 3-1/2”, set at 36” 

from the floor. Balusters are square, 1-1/4” b y 1-1/

4” set on 4” centers.

Interior

The interior plan of the building and nearly all of the 

interior wall, ceiling, and floor finishes date to 1942, 

although at least some of the early 20th-century finishes are concealed by the newer finishes. Some of 

the porches were enclosed after World War II, 

although only the west porch remains so today. Six 

doors were removed and the openings widened in 

2002 to improve handicapped accessibility. All of the 

existing interior finishes on the main floor are in 

excellent condition.

Flooring. Except in the kitchen and bathrooms, 

which have modern ceramic tile floors, flooring is 

oak, tongue-and-groove, 3/4” by 2-3/4”, installed 

FIGURE 41. View of typical siding and corner 

trim. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 42. View north on east porch, showing 

typical finish materials. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)
44 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

directly on top of the original flooring, which is 

pine, tongue-and-groove, and 3” wide.

Walls. Walls in Room 100, 101, 107, and 109 were 

paneled with the present hardwood, which appears 

to be cypress, in 1942. All of that material remains in 

place and is in excellent condition. The remainder 

of the walls in the house were finished with a highgrade, painted, fir plywood, distinguished from 

modern plywood, which exists in some locations, 

by the beveled edges of the historic material. Underlying some if not all of the present wall finishes is the 

original paneling, which was 3”-wide, V-joint, 

tongue-and-groove.

Ceilings. Ceilings, which are set at 10’-3” above the 

floor except in Room 107, were originally finished 

with the same V-joint paneling used on some of the 

walls and much of that material remains in place. 

Plywood, similar to that used on the walls, was used 

to finish all ceilings in 1942Interior doors are six 

panel, with primary openings 7’ and 8’ high and secondary openings 6’-8”. A number of the historic 

doors were replaced in 2002 when several doorways 

were widened to improve handicapped accessibility. 

Differences in hardware provide the easiest means 

of distinguishing historic and modern doors. Historic doors feature ball-end hinge pins, a plain, rectangular escutcheon and oval knobs; modern 

replacements have plain hinge pins, a circular 

escutcheon and oval knobs that are slightly smaller 

than the historic knobs. Stiles and rails are also 

molded differently on the two types of doors.

Window and door casing is similar throughout the 

house, except in Room 110 and at some of the 

openings altered in 2002. It is composed of a 1” by 

1-1/8” backband and a 1-1/2” quirked cyma reversa 

molding. Window stools are 3/4” to 1” by 6” and 

most windows have a 5”-wide molded apron. Baseboards are generally 7-1/2” with a 3/4” cove molding used as a cap and a 3/4” shoe molding. Primary 

rooms have 3” or 4” cyma recta crown molding and 

three rooms have a picture molding.

Room 100

At the house’s original main entrance, this hall measures about 6’-10” by 9’ and provides access to what 

was once a living room on the east and a dining 

room on the west. A small closet, 4’-5” by 5-2”, 

adjoins the hall on the south. In it is a disappearing 

stairway to the attic, and the closet also houses the 

office’s computer network server. The existing finFIGURE 43. View of typical historic six-panel 

doors installed in 1942, left, and typical modern 

six-panel door installed in 2002. (NPS-SERO-CR, 

2003). (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 44. View of typical plywood ceiling 

installed in 1942. Beveled edges are distinctive 

features of this material. Similar material was 

used on some walls as well. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 45. Typical historic casing used at doors 

and windows through most of the house. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 45

Physical Description

ishes are in excellent condition and date to the 1942 

remodeling.

Flooring. Flooring is typical oak tongue-andgroove, installed in 1942.

Walls. Paneling dating to 1942 is verticallyinstalled, V-joint, tongue-and-groove cypress, 5”, 

7”, and 9” wide, typical of the paneling also used in 

Room 101 and 109. The closet walls are plywood.

Ceiling. The ceiling is typical historic plywood, 

painted white, installed in 1942.

Doors. In addition to the main entrance doors, 

which are typical French doors, large openings, 

around 5’ by 8’, open to Room 101 on the east and 

Room 109 on the west. Both appear to have been 

cased without doors in 1942, but a pair of modern, 

hollow-core, bi-fold, mahogany doors have been 

installed at the opening to Room 101. The closet 

door, 2’-4” by 7’-0”, is a typical six-panel, fir door 

dating to 1942. Hung with 4” hinges, the door 

retains its original mortised lock; plain, rectangular 

escutcheon, and oval brass knob.

Trim. Walls are trimmed with a simple baseboard, 

7-1/2” high with typical cap and shoe molding. A 4” 

crown molding joins the ceiling, with an unusual 1-

1/2” picture molding placed about 4” below the 

crown Door casing is typical historic trim with 

backband and quirked cyma reversa molding.

Miscellaneous. An unusual, aluminum, electric 

light fixture hangs from the ceiling. Its Modern 

design suggests that it is one of the only light fixtures 

that survive from the Navy remodeling during 

World War II.

Room 101

The largest room in the house, this room served as 

the house’s living room after the remodeling in 

1942. Measuring about 15’-7” by 23-6”, it is now 

used as the main conference room for the office. A 

built-in bookcase on the south wall is presumably an 

original feature, but the opening into the bathroom 

was not present until 2003.

Flooring. Flooring is typical oak tongue-andgroove, installed in 1942.

Walls. Paneling, similar to that in Room 100, is vertically-installed, V-joint, tongue-and-groove

FIGURE 46. View of typical historic window stool 

and apron. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 47. View south in front hall (100). (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 48. View southwest in Room 101. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)
46 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

cypress, with the boards 5”, 7”, and 9” wide, stained 

and varnished, installed in 1942. A wainscot is 

formed by 9” boards installed horizontally above 

the 7-1/2” baseboard to a height of about 34”. It is 

finished with a 1”-thick chair rail that projects about 

1-1/8” beyond the face of the paneling.

Ceiling. The ceiling is finished with typical historic 

plywood, painted white.

Doors. Typical double French doors open to the 

north porch and a pair of double French doors 

opens to the east porch. At the top of each door 

opening is a valance, about 10” high, made of 

cypress to match the walls, and extending about a 

foot on both sides of the openings. Intended to hide 

drapery hardware, they appear to date to the 1942 

remodeling. A large cased opening, around 5’ by 8’, 

opens to Room 100 on the west with a pair of modern, hollow-core, bi-fold, Filipino mahogany doors 

installed in the opening. A similar cased opening, 3’-

0” by 8’-0”, leads to the back hall (103). Neither of 

these openings appear to have had doors historically. The door to the bathroom (102) was created as 

part of the changes in 2002 and replaced the historic 

opening into the bath from Room 105. The present 

door is a modern six-panel door, 3’-0 by 7’-0”

Trim. Walls are trimmed with a typical simple baseboard, 7-1/2” high, finished with a 3/4” coved cap 

molding and 3/4” shoe molding. A 4” crown molding joins the ceiling, with a 1-1/2” picture molding 

placed about 4” below the crown.

Miscellaneous. The only fireplace in the house is 

located in this room. Dating to 1942, although perhaps repointed since that time, it features a brick 

firebox surround and a brick hearth on a concrete 

base. It is in excellent condition. An unusually long 

mantle shelf is mounted asymmetrically about 20” 

above the firebox. Supported by three wooden 

brackets, it measures 1-1/2” by 8” by 10’-4”, with 

about half of its length extending to the west of the 

fireplace itself. A modern ceiling fan is mounted in 

the center of the ceiling.

Room 102

Measuring 5’ by 9’-5”, this bath room was created in 

1942 and completely renovated in 2002. Originally, 

it opened into Room 105, but the door was closed 

and a new door to Room 101 created in 2002 when 

the room was redesigned for handicapped accessibility. A bath tub, a toilet similar to the one that 

FIGURE 49. View northeast in Room 101. (NPS-SEROCR, 2003)

FIGURE 50. View south in Room 101, showing bookcase 

and door to bathroom. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 51. View of typical crown and picture 

molding in Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 52. View of mantle in Room 101. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003
National Park Service 47

Physical Description

remains in Room 104, and the door to Room 105 

were removed at that time. Besides the space itself, 

the only historic feature left in this room is the window, although the door that was removed is currently stored in the basement.

Flooring. The floor is a modern ceramic tile, 8” by 

10”.

Walls and Ceiling. Walls and ceiling are modern 

dry wall.

Window. The window dates to 1942 (see “Windows” and Figure 16, above). It retains its original 

prismatic glass, casing and trim.

Miscellaneous. The room has a modern toilet at its 

east end while a modern synthetic marble counter 

top and basin spans the west end.

Room 103

This L-shaped hall was apparently created when the 

house’s floor plan was reconfigured in 1942. All of 

the main rooms except 109 and 110 connect to this 

hall.

Flooring. Flooring is typical oak tongue-andgroove, installed in 1942.

Walls and Ceiling. Walls and ceiling are finished 

with the same unusual, bevel-edged, plywood panels used elsewhere in the house in 1942. Both are 

painted white. A 1-1/2” panel molding on the eastwest portion of the L-shaped hall ceiling marks the 

location of a louver for the whole-house attic fan 

that remains in the attic (see “Utilities” below). The 

fan’s louver appears to have been removed and the 

opening covered sometime prior to 1998.

Doors. The doors to Rooms 105, 106, 107, and 108 

were widened and replaced in 2002 as part of the 

project to improve handicapped accessibility. All are 

3’-0” by 7’-0” with typical modern six-panel doors, 

except at the kitchen (108) which was left as a cased 

opening without a door. Modern double doors, 4’-

0” by 7’-0”, were also installed at closet 103A, but 

the doors at the bathroom (104, see below) and at 

the other two closets are historic. The door to closet 

103B is a typical six-panel door, 2’-4” by 7’-0”; but 

the door to closet 103C is a solid-core, flush door, 

1’-6” by 7’-0”, and is the only one of its kind in the 

building.

FIGURE 53. View south in Hall, Room 103. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 54. View west in hall, 103. (NPS-SERO-CR, 

2003)
48 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

Trim. A typical 7-1/2” baseboard is used throughout the hall, along with a typical 3” crown molding. 

Typical 3/4” quarter-round finishes the corners of 

the space. Door casing is typical except on the doors

 

 to closet 103A, where the new casing is about 1/2” 

wider than the historic casing.

Room 104

Unlike the other two historic baths, one of which 

was removed in 1998, this bath was built as a half 

bath room. Part of the 1942 remodeling of the 

building, it is about 5’ by 7’. The original lavatory 

and floor have been replaced.

Flooring. Flooring is a modern ceramic tile, 7-3/4” 

by 7-3/4”.

Walls and Ceiling. Walls and ceiling are typical 

bevel-edged plywood, painted white.

Door. The door is a six-panel door, 2’-6” by 6’-9”. 

Hinges are original but the door itself appears to 

have been replaced, apparently prior to 1998.

Trim. A 5” baseboard with 3/4” cove molding as a 

cap is used in this room along with 3/4” quarter 

round in the corners and a 3” cyma recta crown 

molding.

Fixtures. The historic lavatory was replaced, perhaps as early as the 1960s. At present a wooden cabinet with formica countertop spans the north side of 

the room. The toilet, a “Standard One-Piece,” is 

dated October 3, 1941, and was installed during the 

remodeling in 1942. A similar toilet was present in 

Room 102 until replaced in 2002.

Room 105

Used as the commanding officer’s bedroom during 

World War II and the superintendent’s bedroom 

after that, this room now houses the superintendent’s office. A small closet, original to the space, is

located on the north wall. Measuring about 12’-8” 

by 15’-7”, the room has French doors opening to 

the south and east verandahs. The door to the adjacent bath room (102) was removed and the opening 

closed by the present book shelf in 1998.

Flooring. Flooring is typical oak tongue-andgroove, installed in 1942.

Walls and Ceiling. Walls and ceiling are finished 

with the same bevel-edged, plywood panels used 

elsewhere in the house in 1942. Both are painted 

white.

FIGURE 55. View north in hall toward 

bathroom 104. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 56. View of historic toilet in bathroom 104. 

(NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 49

Physical Description

Doors. The double doors on the east and south 

walls are typical. The historic door to the hall (103) 

was replaced and the opening widened to 3’ in 2002; 

the present door is a typical modern six-panel door 

with new hardware. The door to closet 105A is an 

historic six-panel door, 2’-4” by 7’-0” with original 

mortise lock and knobs intact.

Window. A single, double-hung window is located 

on the east wall. Sash are six-over-six, 2’6” by 5’-9”, 

with metal thumb lifts and sash lock, typical casing 

and trim.

Trim. Except for the casing of the hall door and the 

built-in bookcase, both of which are modern, all the 

room’s historic woodwork remains intact. Baseboard is 7-1/2” with typical cap and shoe, and there 

are a 3” cyma recta crown molding and typical door 

and window casing.

Miscellaneous. On the north wall between the 

bookcase and the closet door is a small cased opening, 1’-2” by 2’-11”, that originally provided access 

to the plumbing for a bath tub.

Room 106

Measuring about 8’-8” by 15’-10”, this room was 

created in 1998 by removing a wall and combining a 

bathroom with what had been designated “sewing 

room” on some post-war plans of the house. The 

bathroom, which was at the western end of the present space, is reported to have been similar to the 

bathroom that was remodeled in Room 102 in 1998. 

The present room serves as administrative office for 

the park’s chief of maintenance.

Flooring. Flooring is typical oak tongue-andgroove, installed in 1942.

Walls and Ceiling. Walls and ceiling are finished 

with the same bevel-edged, plywood panels used 

elsewhere in the house in 1942. Both are painted 

white.

Doors. The historic door to the hall (103) was 

replaced and the opening widened to 3’ in 2002; the 

present door is a typical modern six-panel door with 

new hardware. The door to closet 106A is an historic six-panel door, 2’-4” by 7’-0” with original 

mortise lock and knobs intact.

Window. A trio of double-hung window is located 

on the south wall. Sash are six-over-six, 2’6” by 5’-

FIGURE 57. View northwest in 

superintendent’s office, 105. (NPS-SERO-CR, 

FIGURE 58. View northeast in superintendent’s 

office, 105. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 59. View southeast in superintendent’s 

office, 105. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)
50 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

9”, with metal thumb lifts and sash lock, typical casing and trim.

Trim. Except for the casing of the hall door and the 

built-in bookcase, both of which are modern, all the 

room’s historic woodwork remains intact. Baseboard is 7-1/2” with typical cap and shoe and door 

and window casing are typical. A 4” cyma recta 

crown molding finishes the top of the walls and a 

3”-wide panel molding runs around the room at the 

level of the tops of the windows. Both of these features were added in 1998.

Miscellaneous. At the western end of the south 

wall a window originally served the bathroom formerly in that location. It is reported to have been 

similar in size and configuration to the one that 

remains in bathroom 102 and had the same prismatic glass. The window was removed and replaced 

by the present built-in bookcase in 1998. The door 

in the west wall that connected the bath to Room 

107 was also removed at the same time and a similar 

bookcase installed in the opening in Room 107. 

Room 107

Nearly square at 14’-3” by 14’-5”, this room was 

created by removing a wall and enclosing the south 

end of the west porch prior to World War II, perhaps in the 1920s. Differences in moldings and finishes suggest that this room may not have been 

remodeled along with the rest of the house in 1942, 

but that seems unlikely. It now serves as administrative office for the park’s chief ranger.

Flooring. Flooring is typical oak tongue-andgroove, installed in 1942. There is a pronounced 

slope to the floor, probably because it uses the framing of the original porch floor which was canted 

away from the house for good drainage.

Walls. The walls are finished with sheets of hardwood paneling, a very early example of use of a 

material that was not widely used until the 1960s. 

The specie of wood is not certain.

Ceiling. Because it was created by enclosing the 

porch, the ceiling in this room is at 8’-10” rather 

than the 10’+ found elsewhere in the house. It is finished with the same bevel-edged, plywood panels 

used elsewhere in the house in 1942. Both are 

painted white.

FIGURE 60. View southwest in Room 106. 

Bookcase at right marks location of old 

bathroom window. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 61. View southwest in Room 106, 

showing molding added in 1998. (NPS-SER0-

CR, 2003)

FIGURE 62. View northeast in Room 107. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 51

Physical Description

Doors. A typical double French door opens to the 

south porch. The historic door to the hall (103) was 

replaced and the opening widened to 3’ in 2002; the 

present door is a typical modern six-panel door with 

new hardware. The door opening to closet 107A has 

been reduced from 5’-4” by 7’-0” to 4’-0” by 6’-2”, 

partly due to an unexplained elevation of the floor 

level in the closet. Closet doors are modern louvered bifolds.

Window. A single double-hung window is located 

on the south and two on the west wall. Sash were 

six-over six, 2’-6” by 5’-9”, with metal thumb lifts 

and sash lock, typical casing and trim, but the 

wooden sash were recently replaced with vinyl sash 

using a slightly smaller window light.

Trim. Except for the casing of the hall door and the 

large built-in bookcase, both of which are modern, 

all the room’s historic woodwork remains intact. 

Baseboard is 7-1/2” high which includes a base cap 

different from that found in the rest of the house, 

being a 3/4” by 1-1/2” stop with a rounded edge. 

Windows have a 1”-thick stool and a plain 6” apron, 

contrasting with the 4” molded apron used in Room 

106. Window and door casing are otherwise typical.

Miscellaneous. A small built-in book shelf, 2’-8” by 

3’-9” is located near the north end of the east wall 

and probably dates to 1942. A larger built-in bookshelf, 2’-4” by 6-’7”, on the same wall was installed 

when the door originally in that location was 

removed in 2003.

Room 108

This room has apparently served as the house’s 

kitchen at least since 1942. A small pantry is located 

in the northeast corner of the room. Most of the 

room’s historic walls, ceiling, and woodwork remain 

intact, but flooring was replaced when the kitchen 

was remodeled in 1998.

Flooring. Flooring is modern ceramic tile, 12-3/4” 

square, installed in 1998.

Walls and Ceiling. Walls and ceiling are finished 

with the same bevel-edged, plywood panels used 

elsewhere in the house in 1942. Both are painted 

white.

Doors. Two historic doors remain in place. On the 

north wall is a swinging, six-panel door, 2’-6” by 7’-

FIGURE 63. View southwest in Room 107. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 64. Detail of paneling in Room 107. (NPSERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 65. Detail of paneling in Room 107. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)
52 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

0”, opening into the former dining room (109). The 

pantry door is also historic, six-panel, 2’-4” by 7’-0”. 

The door opening to the hall at the east end is a simple cased opening with no evidence of a door having been hung at that location. At the opposite end 

of the room, another door opening, 2’-8” by 8’-0”, 

was hung with a door but it has been removed, 

probably when the porch was enclosed. A door bell 

button remains on the exterior casing of that door.

Window. There is a single window, located on the 

west wall. It is double-hung with six-over-six sash, 

2’-4” by 5’-4”, with metal thumb lifts and sash latch.

Trim. Except for the door to the hall (103), which is 

like the molded casing used elsewhere in the house, 

door and window casing in this room is a plain 1” by 

2-1/2” board. The baseboard is 7-1/4” high with 3/

4” cover molding for a cap and no shoe molding. A 

4” cyma recta crown molding finishes the walls.

Miscellaneous. At the top of the wall above the 

window is a small hinged metal cover that appears 

to have been associated with a kitchen exhaust fan 

that is no longer operable. Hanging from a hook on 

the ceiling nearby is a metal rod used to open and 

close the fan door. The fan was probably installed 

during the 1942 renovation of the house.

Room 109

Approximately 15’-10” by 18’-4”, this room was the 

dining room and originally featured double French 

doors on the north wall and a pair of double French 

doors on the west wall. Finished much like the old 

living room (101), it is now used as an administrative office.

Flooring. Flooring is typical oak tongue-andgroove, installed in 1942.

Walls. Paneling, similar to that in Room 101, is vertically-installed, V-joint, tongue-and-groove 

cypress, with the boards 5”, 7”, and 9” wide, stained 

and varnished, installed in 1942. A wainscot is 

formed by 9” boards installed horizontally above 

the 7-1/2” baseboard to a height of about 34”. It is 

finished with a 1”-thick chair rail that projects about 

1-1/8” beyond the face of the paneling.

Ceiling. The ceiling is finished with typical historic 

plywood, painted white.

FIGURE 66. View west in kitchen, Room 108. 

(NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 67. View east in kitchen, Room 108. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 53

Physical Description

Doors. Typical double French doors open to the 

north porch and a pair of double French doors originally opened to the west porch, but they have been 

removed. At the top of each door opening is a 

valance, about 10” high, made of cypress to match 

the walls, and extending about a foot on both sides 

of the openings. Intended to hide drapery hardware, 

they appear to date to the 1942 remodeling. In addition to the swinging door to the kitchen on the south 

wall, there is the large cased opening, around 5’ by 

8’, which opens to Room 100 on the east.

Trim. Walls are trimmed with a typical simple baseboard, 7-1/2” high, finished with a 3/4” coved cap 

molding and 3/4” shoe molding. A 4” crown molding joins the ceiling, with a 1-1/2” picture molding 

placed about 4” below the crown.

Miscellaneous. Three electric wall sconces are 

mounted in this room, but none are working. They 

are the only historic lighting fixtures that have survived except possibly for the ceiling fixture in the 

front hall (100).

Room 110

This room was created in the 1950s by enclosing 

what was originally an open porch on the west side 

of the house with aluminum-framed awning windows. These were replaced by the present windows 

in 1995.

Flooring. Flooring is typical 2-1/4” oak tongueand-groove, but it was not installed until the renovations in the 1990s.

Walls. Most of the south and east walls are formed 

by what was originally the exterior siding of the 

house. The wall constructed to enclose the north 

end of the east wall is covered with modern plywood, painted white.

Ceiling. The ceiling follows the slope of the original 

porch ceiling, but the spaced boards that covered 

the original ceiling have been replaced or covered by 

modern plywood.

Doors. The door to the kitchen and the French 

doors to the dining room have been removed. A 

door opens to the outside near the south/ end of the 

west side. It is 3’-0” by 6’-8” and has nine panels 

with a single light near the top. It was installed in the 

1960s or 1970s.

FIGURE 68. View of exhaust fan at west end of 

kitchen. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 

FIGURE 69. View southwest in Room 109. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 70. View northeast in Room 109. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)
54 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

Windows. The eleven windows on the north and 

east walls of the space are all modern, installed in 

1995. They are double-hung, 2’-7” by 5’-11”, with 

one-over one wooden sash and insulated glass.

Utilities

The building’s electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems have all be renovated in recent years and are in 

good condition.

Electrical. The building’s electrical system was 

rehabilitated in 1995, and presumably is in good 

condition, although loose wires and coverless junction boxes were noted in the attic. Only three light 

fixtures remain from the historic period, the overhead light in Room 100 and the two wall sconces in 

Room 109. The fixture in Room 100 is operative; the 

sconces are not.

A complete fire detection and security system was 

installed in 1992. It includes detectors throughout 

the house and is in good condition.

Of some interest is a galvanized-steel, telephone 

junction box located on one of the pilings on the 

east side of the basement. The porcelain backboard 

inside has been broken. It most likely dates to the 

Navy’s rehabilitation of the building during World 

War II.

Plumbing. A new septic system was installed in the 

yard west of the house in 1984 and the bathrooms 

were renovated in 1998. Cast-iron waste lines run 

across the ground in the basement. A 40-gallon 

water heater is located on a concrete plinth in the 

basement beneath Room 107. As noted above, the 

most significant feature of the present plumbing 

system is the one-piece toilet located in Room 104. 

The building is protected by a sprinkler system that 

covers the entire interior of the house, the porches, 

and the attic.

HVAC. The building’s historic radiant heating system was replaced with a forced-air system in 1974. 

That system was replaced and the existing equipment, located in the northwest side of the basement, 

installed in 2002.

FIGURE 71. View of wall sconce, c. 1942, located in 

Room 109. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 72. View north in Room 110. (NPSSERO-CR, 2003)

FIGURE 73. View of abandoned telephone junction 

box in basement. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 55

Physical Description

FIGURE 74. Plan of existing basement. Concrete slab-on-grade is indicated by 

hatching; remainder of floor is dirt. (T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 
56 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

Part I: Developmental History

FIGURE 75. Plan of existing first floor. (T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)
National Park Service 57

Treatment and Use

Overshadowed by Fort Pulaski and the events of 

1862, the historic use of Cockspur Island for 

quarantine purposes has been documented to the 

colonial era, with both Fort George and Fort 

Greene used as quarantine stations. Savannah’s first 

permanent quarantine station was established on 

Lazaretto Creek just across the sound from 

Cockspur Island, and quarantine operations were a 

significant part of the island’s history for nearly two 

centuries. Military use of the island also began 

during the colonial era and it did not end in 1862. 

During the Spanish-American War and World War 

I, but especially during World War II, military 

construction and operations periodically changed 

the face of the island. Next to the fort itself, the 

Navy section base was the largest of the several 

military facilities built on the island during its long 

history as a military outpost.

Built shortly before World War I and now used as 

administrative headquarters for Fort Pulaski 

National Monument, the old quarantine attendants’ 

quarters is the last remaining structure associated 

with the quarantine station that operated on 

Cockspur Island from 1889 until 1937. Heavily 

remodeled as a residence for the Navy commandant 

in 1942, it is also the last primary structure 

associated with the sprawling Navy patrol base that 

was built on the island during World War II.64

The building is in excellent condition, with few if 

any problems of repair that cannot be easily 

remedied, but its historical integrity has been 

compromised by some of the modern changes that 

have been made to the building. The primary 

purpose of this historic structure report has been to 

provide the park with an understanding of the 

building’s historic features and materials so that 

they might better protect what is significant about 

the structure. Historical research has been limited 

and building investigation has been visual and nondestructive, so that much remains to be learned 

about the building and its history. Much has been 

learned, too, however, and interpretive 

opportunities abound.

The following sections of this report outline issues 

surrounding use of the building as well as legal 

requirements and other mandates that circumscribe 

treatment of the building. These are followed by an 

evaluation of treatment alternatives before 

describing the proposed treatment through a series 

of more-detailed recommendations.

Ultimate 

Treatment and Use

Use

Since 2003, the house has served as the park’s 

administrative offices and that use will continue for 

the foreseeable future. While continuation of the 

building’s historic residential use might be desirable 

from the perspective of historic preservation, 

relocation of the offices has relieved the strain that 

their presence had caused on the visitors’ center. 

Part of the NPS’ landmark “Mission 66” initiative, 

the visitors center itself may be eligible for inclusion 

on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Treatment

The old quarantine attendants quarters has been 

thoroughly rehabilitated for modern office use. 

Future treatment should aim to preserve the 

building, with a long-term goal of restoring the 

building’s historic integrity, focusing on the building 

as it was remodeled by the Navy in 1943. The 

appearance of the building prior to that time is open 

to speculation, especially its interior features and 

fenestration, and even if restoration were possible, it 

should not be pursued since it would require 64. Several ammunition bunkers from the Navy period 

survive on the island.
58 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

destruction of significant early modern interior 

features related to the Navy’s remodeling during 

World War II.

Requirements for 

Treatment and Use

Because of its listing on the National Register of 

Historic Places, legal mandates and policy directives 

circumscribe treatment of the Quarantine 

Attendants’ Quarters. Section 106 of the National 

Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) mandates that 

federal agencies, including the NPS, take into 

account the effects of their actions on properties 

listed or eligible for listing in the National Register 

and give the Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation a reasonable opportunity to comment. 

The NPS' Cultural Resources Management 

Guideline (DO-28) requires planning for the 

protection of cultural resources “whether or not 

they relate to the specific authorizing legislation or 

interpretive programs of the parks in which they 

lie.” The Quarantine Officers’ Quarters should be 

understood in its own cultural context and managed 

in light of its own values so that it may be preserved 

unimpaired for the enjoyment of present and future 

generations.65

To help guide compliance with these statutes and 

regulations, the Secretary of the Interior has issued 

Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. 

The National Park Service's Preservation Briefs also 

provide detailed guidelines for appropriate 

treatment of a variety of materials, features, and 

conditions found in historic buildings. Regardless of 

treatment approach, a key principle embodied in 

the Standards is that changes be reversible, i.e., that 

alterations, additions, or other modifications be 

designed and constructed in such a way that they 

can be removed or reversed in the future without 

the loss of existing historic materials, features, or 

character. The building is now fully accessible to the 

handicapped, and it appears to be in compliance 

with modern building codes. The observed 

condition of the wiring in the attic was of some 

concern, but minor repairs such as replacement of 

junction box covers would probably correct those 

deficiencies.

Further treatment of the building should be guided 

by the International Building Code, including that 

code’s statement regarding historic buildings:

3406.1 Historic Buildings. The provisions of 

this code related to the construction, repair, 

alteration, addition, restoration and movement 

of structures, and change of occupancy shall not 

be mandatory for historic buildings where such 

buildings are judged by the building official to 

not constitute a distinct life safety hazard

[emphasis added].

Threats to public health and safety should always be 

eliminated, but because this is an historic building, 

alternatives to full code compliance are 

recommended where compliance would needlessly 

compromise the integrity of the historic building.

Alternatives for 

Treatment and Use

Use

As noted above, residential use of the building is an 

alternative use that can always be considered, 

especially since it would require no alterations to the 

present building. If future expansion of staff should 

necessitate additional office space, it would be 

possible to create additional finished office space at 

the basement level if it were designed without 

altering or obscuring the historic pilings on which 

the building sits.

Treatment

Preservation. Preservation of the status quo is 

certainly one option for treatment of the building. 

The building is in good repair and entirely 

functional for its present use. However, the 

building’s present exterior appearance, while 

attractive, bears little resemblance to the building 

the Navy created in 1943 or to the building that 

existed before World War II. Expanded 

interpretation to include use of the island for 

quarantine or perhaps just general interpretation of 

all of the buildings that have historically been 

associated with the fort would clearly benefit from 

restoration and presentation of the building in an 

authentic manner.

Three distinct approaches to restoration of the 

building could be outlined. Each has its limitations, 65. “Cultural Resource Management Guidelines,” (1997), 

p. 1
National Park Service 59

Part II: Treatment and Use

and within the larger context of the park’s primary 

interpretive mission at Fort Pulaski, there is no 

compelling rationale for choosing one over the 

other.

Restoration, World War I. Restoration of the 

original building would require removal of the 

enclosure of the west porch; recreation of the 

chamfered columns and the bannisters on the west, 

east, and north porches; removal of the rear (south) 

porch entirely; and removal of the all of the walls 

that enclose the basement level. Even then, a fully 

authentic restoration is not really possible with 

existing documentation. While V-joint paneling was 

used on walls and ceilings and the original flooring 

remains beneath the present flooring, the plan of the 

interior and characteristics of the original interior 

doors and wood trim are not known. Restoration of 

the exterior of the building to its original 

appearance is also not possible with existing 

documentation. While exterior finishes still exist, 

the extent of the Navy’s changes to the building’s 

fenestration is not certain, with the character of 

fenestration on all but parts of the west and south 

side completely unknown. Certainly the building 

had louvered exterior shutters and the windows 

were probably double-hung with four-over-four 

sash, but beyond that little can be said.

Restoration, between the wars. Restoration of the 

building to its appearance between the wars can also 

not be considered with any degree of confidence. 

Certainly it would require the changes to the 

porches and removal of the basement walls noted 

above, and it would also require reconstruction of 

the pre-WWII south porch, which was substantially 

smaller than the present porch on that side of the 

house. In addition, restoration of the building to its 

appearance between the wars would require 

screening of all of the porches but not replacement 

of exterior louvered shutters, which were removed 

when the porches were screened. In the end, 

however, restoration of the exterior to its 

appearance between the wars is not possible for the 

same reasons that restoration of its original 

appearance is not possible. While screening the 

porches would partially obscure the building’s 

fenestration and perhaps minimize the impact of 

unknown changes to windows and doors, interior 

restoration would still be highly speculative. It 

should be emphasized that, at present, restoration of 

the building to its appearance prior to the Navy’s 1942 

remodeling simply cannot be supported without 

additional research and major destructive 

investigatioin of the present building.

Restoration, World War II. While restoration to 

earlier periods remains problematic, restoration of 

the building to its appearance during World War II 

could be accomplished with a minimum of 

speculation. Removal of the non-historic plastic 

lattic at the ground level and restoration of the 

historic lap siding could be easily accomplished and 

historic photographs provide documentation for 

recreating the historic ground-level fenestration. 

The historic configuration of the east and south 

stairways to the porches is well documented and 

could be easily recreated. Likewise the character of 

the porches during the period is well documented. 

Removal of Room 110 and restoration of the west 

porch as well as removal of the modern bannisters 

and reconstruction of the wood framing and 

screening on all the porches would require little if 

any speculation. The few changes to the building’s 

fenestration (replacement of the windows in Room 

107, removal of the French doors on the west side of 

Room 110, and recreation of the window to the 

bathroom next to Room 106) could be easily 

reversed, especially since the sash and doors remain 

on site. 

Changes to the interior have been minimal. One 

bathroom was removed and the other bathrooms 

and the kitchen have been altered through 

rehabilitation. The French doors on the west side of 

Room 109 have also been removed, light fixtures 

have been changed, and there have been alterations 

to some doorways to improve handicapped access. 

The changes could be undone, but given the present 

use of the building, there does not appear to be a 

good rationale for doing so.
60 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR
National Park Service 61

Recommendations

Documentation of the entire quarantine station was 

beyond the scope of the present study but is needed 

in order to better understand the context in which 

the present building was constructed and used. 

More extensive research into the records of the U. S. 

Public Health Service and its predecessor the 

Marine Hospital Service could produce valuable 

information about the quarantine station as a whole 

and be very useful to the park’s interpretive 

program. Research in Navy records would also be 

useful and could help document some of the 

changes that were made to the building during 

World War II.

Because no Historic Structure Report had been 

completed prior to the recent work on the building, 

a number of assumptions were made about the 

building’s historic appearance that have proven to 

be incorrect. As a result, the building’s present 

appearance might be described as being historically 

confused.

While it would be possible to immediately restore 

the exterior of the building, that is probably not a 

good use of the park’s resources at the present time. 

No further changes should be made to the 

building’s historic doors and windows, which 

should be maintained and preserved. Beyond that, 

restorative changes could be made incrementally, 

gradually returning the building to its historic 

appearance.

Existing wooden sash are in excellent repair, except 

for some of the historic weatherstripping, which can 

be repaired. All wooden sash and doors on the 

exterior of the building should be maintained and 

preserved. Recent alterations to the windows in 

Room 107 were made for purposes of energy 

efficiency, but less radical treatments are 

encouraged in the future. Repair of 

weatherstripping and the addition of interior storm 

windows instead of replacement of sash could 

accomplish the desired result without the loss of 

historic fabric.

One of the early alterations to the building after 

World War II was covering of the dormer window 

openings with plywood. More recently, louvers have 

been installed in both openings. To return the 

building to its historic appearance, the louvers 

should be removed and wooden, double-hung, 

four-over-four sash reinstated in both openings.

Although not historic, the modern 3-tab asphalt 

shingle roofing is in good condition and can be 

maintained for the duration of its useful life. At that 

time, an appropriate hexagonal asphalt shingle 

should be installed that will replicate the 

appearance of the historic roofing.

Gutters were not present on the building prior to 

World War II but were added around the porches by 

the Navy in 1942. Galvanized steel, half-round 

gutters with round downspouts were part of the 

building’s historic appearance and should be 

reinstated since they would do much to preserve the 

building’s porches.

Exterior restoration should also include the small 

gable over the north entrance, which was 

significantly altered in 1998. Several historic 

photographs provide documentation for its 

restoration. At the same time the fascia that has been 

installed to cover the exposed rafter ends of the 

main roof should be removed and, using treatment 

of the dormer roofs as a guide, the crown molding 

that finished the rafters historically should be 

reinstated.

In addition, the chimney was damaged by lightning 

in recent years, and the repairs altered its 

appearance above ther roof line. The top of the 

chimney should be reconstructed to match its 

appearance in historic photographs.
62 Quarantine Attendants’ Quarters HSR

The plastic lattice at the basement level is the most 

significant of the modern alterations and, when 

replacement is required, should be replaced with lap 

siding to match that installed in 1942. At the same 

time, the window openings, including the unique 

porthole windows, could be reconstructed, and new 

panel doors with clear lights could replace the 

modern metal doors now present at the basement 

level.

While it would be preferred that Room 110 be 

removed and the west porch restored, the room 

appears to be an irreplaceable space that is heavily 

used by park staff. Since it is located on a secondary 

elevation, the room could be maintained in its 

present state without having a significant impact on 

the primary views of the building.

To complete exterior restoration, the existing 

modern posts and bannisters should be removed, 

and all of the porches reframed and screened. 

Screening was considered a great improvement, 

particularly in the south, and was a very significant 

part of the building’s historic appearance from the 

1920s into the modern era. Besides restoring the 

building’s historic appearance, screening might 

encourage use of open windows and doors instead 

of mechanical air-conditioning, at least during 

certain seasons of the year.

On the interior, preservation of the historic features 

and finishes should be a high priority. Those in 

Rooms 100, 101, 105, 106, 107, and 109 are the most 

important, and every effort should be made to 

insure their continued preservation. These rooms 

have had very few alterations, except for the 

bathroom door added off Room 101 and removal of 

the French doors on the west side of Room 109. The 

wall sconces in Room 109 and the ceiling fixture in 

Room 100 are the only historic lighting fixtures 

remaining in the building and should be carefully 

preserved. The toilet in Room 104 is a very early and 

now rare example of a toilet fixture cast in one 

piece; it, too, should be maintained and preserved.

In summary: 

■ Document the quarantine station as a whole 

through research in Navy and Public Health 

Service archives.

■ Maintain and preserve all of the present 

wooden, six-over-six windows, repairing 

weatherstripping and adding storm windows if 

necessary for energy efficiency.

■ Maintain and preserve existing exterior 

woodwork on the main body of the house above 

the basement level.

■ Restore wooden sash in Room 107.

■ Restore old bathroom window at the west end 

of Room 106.

■ Restore double-hung sash in dormers.

■ Replace three-tab roofing shingles with 

hexagonal shingles.

■ Install half-round gutters and downspouts 

around the outside perimeter of the porches.

■ Restore small gable over north entrance.

■ Recreate openings at basement level and 

replace plastic lattice with lap siding.

■ If necessary, preserve window wall that created 

Room 110; otherwise remove and restore west 

porch.

■ Remove modern posts and bannisters from and 

rescreen north, east, and south porches.

■ Maintain and preserve existing interior finishes 

in Rooms 100, 101, 103, 105, 106, 107, and 109.

■ Maintain and preserve historic light fixture in 

Room 100 and historic wall sconces in Room 

109.

■ Preserve historic toilet in Room 104.
National Park Service 63

Bibliography

Collins, Judith. Historic Structure Assessment Report: The 

Cockspur Island Lighthouse. Atlanta: Southeast 

Regional Office, National Park Service, 1994.

“Fort Pulaski,” National Register file. Georgia State 

Historic Preservation Office, Atlanta, GA.

Groh, Lou. Archeological Investigations of Fort Pulaski 

National Monument Chatham County, Georgia. 

Tallahassee: Southeast Archeological Center, 

National Park Service, 1999.

__________. Fort Pulaski National Monument 

Archeological Overview and Assessment. Tallahassee: 

Southeast Archeological Center, National Park 

Service, 2000.

Historic American Buildings Survey. History of Fort 

Pulaski and Cockspur Island. Addendum to Fort 

Pulaski. HABS No. GA-2158, Washington, D.C.: 

Department of the Interior, 1998.

Lattimore, Ralston B. Fort Pulaski National Monument, 

Georgia. Handbook Series No. 18. 1954. Reprint, 

Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1961.

Meador, J. Faith. Fort Pulaski National Monument 

Administrative History. National Park Service, 

Southeast Region, 2002

Microfiche files, Southeast Regional Office National Park 

Service, Atlanta, Georgia.

Park files, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia.

Savannah City Council. Archival Records, Minute Books, 

1822-1864. Georgia Historical Society.

____________________. Clerk of Council, Committee on 

Public Health, 1861-1932. City Hall Records Center.

____________________. Clerk of Council, Quarantine 

Books, Quarantine Reports of Arrival of Vessels, 

Quarantine Station Reports, Contracts 1852-1957. 

City Hall Records Center.

Trout, Edward L. Fort Pulaski National Monument 

National Register Nomination. Washington, D.C.: 

Department of the Interior, 1974.

Watts, Gordon P. Jr. Archeological Survey of GDOT 

Proposed Widening of US80/SR26 from Bull River to 

Lazaretto Creek, Chatham County, Georgia. 

Washington, N.C.: Tidewater Atlantic Research, Inc., 

1999.
64 Quarantine Attendants’ Residence HSR
As the nation’s principal conservation agency, the 

Department of the Interior has responsibility for most 

of our nationally owned public lands and natural 

resources. This includes fostering sound use of our 

land and water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, 

and biological diversity; preserving the environmental 

and cultural values of our national parks and 

historical places; and providing for the enjoyment of 

life through outdoor recreation. The department 

assesses our energy and mineral resources and works 

to ensure that their development is in the best 

interests of all our people by encouraging stewardship 

and citizen participation in their care. The 

department also has a major responsibility for 

American Indian reservation communities and for 

people who live in island territories under U.S. 

administration. 

348/105051 August 2010