The Wilmington morning star., 1946-03-15
MORE ABOUT
CASWELL
FROM PAGE ONE

or intention to sell Fort Cas-
well.
In the inquiry nothing was
asked regarding any plans that
the Navy might have for use Of
! the property. The answer
brought no information on this
point.
A like inquiry was directed to
Senator ]. W. Bailey in Wash
lngton and after several days
ne advised that he had been
unable to learn anything of any
plans to sell the property. He, like
wise, volunteered no information Of
any plans for the government use
fof the property.
Spent a Million
During the recent war the CIV.
eminent spent about million dol
lars at Fort CasweiI, adding to fhe
already existing physical nroner.
s sles' se1ore the first World Wa,
ana curing that struggle over nine
lniinons were spent. Most Of &
gong into the most perm anen,
construction. In addition to The
many two-and three.storv houses
a!ready there and put in perfect
conoition, a considerable number
OF new buildings were erected
Among these was a fair sized bos.
|pital. AVG
Several docks were built in the
large yacht basin and on the river
front. extending into 80 or more
feet OF water, a 3o0-foot dock was
built. It is said that this dock can
accommodate any vessel entering
the Cape Fear.
Power and Water
The fort has fine sewerage and
Its own water system. Deep wells
with a large and substantial brick
pumping house, are located two
or three miles down the coast in a
tract OF woods. The water, in addi.
ton to being ample in quantity for
any purpose, is rated as being the
purest and best for drinking Dur.
poses Of any in this section.
The electric power is obtained
from Southport, heavy cables run
ming across two or more miles of
marshland to the fort. The main
machinery operated by electric
power was the boat lift, which was
capable Of bringing around a hum
dred tons Of boat above the sur.
face, permitting repairs and paint
ing. About go boats of all sorts
were kept at the fort during the
recent war. A small number are
still there.
Dates Way Back
While the history OF Fort Cas-.
well dates away back to Revolu-
tionary War days, all of the pres
ent construction may be described
as new and modern. The housing
facilities are capable of taking
care Of several hundred people.
During Revolutionary and Civil
War days the construction was,
naturally, most of logs. The mod
ern touch did not appear until
about the time Of the Spanish
American war. Much of the build.
ing, including the gigantic con-
crete gun placements with under
ground rooms and tunnels, was
built between 1895 and 1905. Rooms
and caverns beneath the gun place
ments are still in use, many of
them proved valuable for various
purposes during the war just end
ed.
In World War I
During the first World War about
1900 men were continuously in
training at CasweH. Only way to
get there at that time and for more
than a decade afterwards was by
boat. That war brought about new
methods Of fighting and partly due
to this and partly due to the in
accessibility Of Caswell, it was de.
c1ared obsolete for military pur-
poses a half dozen years after the
war ended.
Bought by Florida interests
shortly before the depression, they
did nothing with it for 10 years or
more. Then desultory efforts were
made to convert it into a summer
resort. This task was beginning
to proceed well when the recent
war came along and the govern
ment bought it lack, along with
300 acres Of the original tract OF
land.
Modern Paved Road
About Is years ago Fort Cas-.
well was made accessible other
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