2010/10/13 Allegheny Arsenal

A Short Histroy

The Arsenal was established by the U.S. Army Ordnance Department near Pittsburgh Pa in 1814.

The arsenal served as a supply and manufacturing center for the troops in the west. Its peak years came during the Civil War, especially the manufacture of cartridges, became a high priority. Civilian employment at the arsenal increased from a pre-war total of 308 to over 1100 workers. One of the busiest facilities was the main lab, which employed 158 workers, the majority of whom were women engaged in the making of cartridges.

On Wednesday, September 17, 1862, around 2 pm, the arsenal exploded. The explosion shattered windows in the surrounding community and was heard in Pittsburgh, over two miles (3 km) away. At the sound of the first explosion, Col. John Symington, Commander of the Arsenal, rushed from his quarters and made his way up the hillside to the lab. As he approached, he heard the sound of a second explosion, followed by a third.

By the time the fire was put out, the lab had been reduced to a pile of rubble. 78 workers, mostly young women, were killed. 54 bodies were unidentified, and were buried in a mass grave in the nearby  Allegheny Cemetery.

The fact  that the battle of Antietam was fought on the same day. The only news of explosion was in the Pittsburgh papers and one other paper

Work at the Arsenal continued, and a new lab was constructed by the following year. After the war, the Allegheny Arsenal served primarily as a storage facility for the Ordnance Department and Quartermaster Corps. In the 1900s most of the land was sold off. Today the site of the explosion is in a ballfield in Arsenal Park. Nearby is the power magazine, now a maintenance shed for the park

on Oct 12th I went to the arsenal to check out if an Investigaton was worth looking into

We think there might be Paranormal Activity but the site is very unsafe at night due too location.

There was one strange photo taken with a full spectrum camera. it is out of focus but the figure was unseen by the naked eye

we might still look into an investigation.

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