Frankford Arsenal
Arsenal, Philadelphia (Bridesburg), Pennsylvania.
- Side
- Union
- Kind
- Arsenal
- Where
- Philadelphia (Bridesburg), Pennsylvania
- Years
- 1861-1865
- Today
- Industry today
FRANKFORD ARSENAL
Arsenal that stored weapons and repaired artillery and small arms, and made percussion powder and Minie balls. By 1864 it employed 1,226 civilian workers. A laboratory explosion killed two people in 1861, and another destroyed part of the percussion cap factory in 1862.
Then
The arsenal stored weapons and artillery, repaired artillery, cavalry and infantry equipment and small arms, made percussion powder and Minie balls, and tested new gunpowder and time fuses. By 1864 it employed 1,226 civilian workers, and in the Gettysburg campaign it supplied tens of thousands of muskets and large stocks of ammunition to Pennsylvania's Emergency Militia.
Its commander, Josiah Gorgas, resigned in 1861 and joined the Confederacy. A laboratory explosion in 1861 killed two people, and another in 1862 destroyed part of the percussion cap factory.
Now
Industry today
The arsenal closed in the fall of 1977 and later reopened as a business park.
Track in service today runs beside the site, on a line owned by a smaller railroad.
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