Fort Pulaski was constructed in 1847 as part of the coastal fortification system adopted by President James Madison. Many considered the fort’s 7 1/2 foot solid brick walls to be unbreachable, however the advent of the rifled cannon proved the fallacy of that assumption.
On April 10-11, 1862, with the use of rifled artillery, Union troops opened wide gaps in the southeast angle, forcing the Confederate garrison to surrender the fort. Fort Pulaski, built to withstand earlier forms of attack, became an interesting relic of defensive architecture.
In 1924, the island and fort were made a national monument. Restoration of the fort by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) began in 1934. This remarkable intact example of 19th century military architecture with an estimated 25 million bricks, has been preserved for future generations by the National Park Service as a reminder of the elusiveness of invincibility. The fort further serves as a memorial to those connected with the construction, bombardment, and defense.
This project was administered by the Historic American Buildings Survey office in Washington, D.C. under the direction of Paul Dolinsky. Documentation was completed during the summer of 2000 and 2001, by the Historic Resources Imaging Laboratory (now the CHC), School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, David G. Woodcock, Director. Documentation was completed by project supervisor Robert Warden and the following architectural technicians: (2000) Richard Anderson, Bob Brinkman, Lauren Elpert, Jihyun Her, Laura Massey, Anuradha Mukherji, Gressa Orsak, Andrea Stahman, Megan Tormey, John Whitaker, Time Winger. (2001) Code Deike, Jeff Dinger, Soyeon Kim, Byron Chambers, Mike Lyssy, Harutai Prartnadi. (2002) Jose de Castillo, Jeffrey DeHaven, Marc Frame, Antonio Valdivia.