This cornerstone was searched for in 1966 as part of the Centennial of the Rock Island District, but it has never been located. The box was placed in a hollowed stone and cemented in place at the northwest angle of the foundation. Major Kingsbury placed copies of local newspapers, a 50-cent piece captured in Sherman's raid, and a list of names including President Lincoln, Governor Richard Yates of Illinois, and others, in a tin box. On April 12, 1864, the cornerstone of the Clock Tower Building was laid.
On these a builder's derrick moved from place to place. Additional tracks circled the inside walls. Tracks were laid from the river to the building site and around it so that stone could be delivered where needed. This tower would house a clock and serve as the main hoist to the three stories.ĭuring the fall and winter of 1863-64, Major Kingsbury hired a master builder and work crew, contracted for the LeClaire stone, and supervised excavation of the basement. In the center of the opposite side stood a 34-foot square, 97-foot high tower.
The portico, 14 by 60 feet, extended from one of the long sides. The main building was 180 by 60 feet, three stories high, in addition to a full basement and attic. Plans called for a brick or stone building suggestive of the classical Greek revival architecture popular among public buildings at the time. Major Kingsbury brought with him plans for Storehouse A which had been designed and drawn up in Washington, D.C., at Ordnance Department Headquarters, and which were identical to plans for the buildings at Columbus and Indianapolis. A Board of Officers had selected the site, 300 feet from old Fort Armstrong, and the Chief of Ordnance had determined that the building material be Le Claire limestone, a buff-colored dolomite, from a quarry fourteen miles upriver from the Island.
Army Ordnance Department had already done much of the planning. On August 13, 1863, the first commander of the new arsenal, Major Charles Kingsbury, arrived to superintend construction of the storehouse.
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