Sign 6 - Stables

Located at the north end of the plant complex were two stables erected in 1918. Like many of the support buildings, they faced west onto State Route 50. The 75-millimeter shell loading plant was located 1000 feet to the east. Each one and one-half-story stable was a rectangle, 120 feet long and 25 feet deep. The wood frame buildings had shed roof dormers and a cross gable in the middle of the facade to bring light into the hayloft under the rafters. Wide doors in each gable end opened into a center aisle with horse stalls on each side. An abundance of windows provided light and fresh air into the stalls.

It is not known how many horses were stabled here, but they were used by police and mounted guards who patrolled the vast grounds. Horses were probably better suited to reconnaissance patrols than motor vehicles because of the lack of paved roads throughout the plant’s 18,000 acre site. Historic photographs of the loading plant under construction also show horses pulling wagons used for the delivery of lumber and other building materials.

All that remains of these two stables today are 8-inch thick, 12-inch high foundation walls, some interior foundation walls, and the concrete flooring.

As the twentieth century progressed, horses were increasingly replaced by cars and trucks as the automobile age blossomed. Their usefulness in wartime persisted, however. During World War II, the United States Coast Guard deployed mounted beach patrols along the Atlantic Ocean from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to Brigantine beach in Atlantic County, just north of Atlantic City. Riding on horseback, the men patrolled the shoreline to supplement other land, sea, and air patrols already in operation. They were looking for raft landings or sea-to-land signals, particularly from German submarines. These specialized patrols operated at night under all weather conditions and were eventually discontinued in the spring of 1944.