The Rock Island District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Clock Tower Building, or more specifically the view of the Government Bridge from the historic Clock Tower, made todays Picture of the Day for the Mississippi Valley Traveler. Did you know the Clock Tower Building is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been the home of the Rock Island District of the Corps of Engineers since 1934? The history of the Clock Tower Building, which stands at the western tip of Arsenal Island, reaches all the way back to the Civil War. Congress, by the Act of July 11, 1862, established three new arsenals: at Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Ind., and on the Government-owned Island of Rock Island in the Mississippi River. At each site, Congress authorized the construction of one storehouse. Storehouse A, as the Clock Tower Building was originally known, became the first building of the new Rock Island Arsenal. On April 20, 1864, the cornerstone was laid. In 1931, a Rock Island District field construction office moved into the first floor of the Clock Tower Building to supervise the first work on the project, the construction of Locks and Dam 15, a few hundred feet away. Since Storehouse A had never been intended for anything but storage, much renovation was necessary. There were no permanent partitions, no water, and no passenger elevator. In a flurry of activity, often around the clock, in 1934, the District Engineer, Col. R. A. Wheeler, officially moved his office to the Clock Tower Building and a surrounding 6.9 acre triangle of land was transferred from the Ordnance Department to the Corps of Engineers.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 20:19:29 +0000
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