Where Did Cadets Live, Pt 2

In 1815, cadets moved to a new barracks, which after 1817 was known as the South Barracks! It was located on the Plain near the site of Ike Barracks today. It was demolished in 1849 or 1850. The structure was 180 feet long with three floors. It had two wings for officer housing/ offices (12 total) & 48 cadet rooms. 8 cadet rooms per floor, 3 floors, 2 sides. So a room either looked north or south. Each cadet floor had a narrow, covered porch with columns & railings. In the early days, there was a stairway for cadets in the middle. A later engraving shows spiral staircases on the outside.

An 1820 engraving showing the north side of the South Barracks. Source: Library of Congress

The building was rubble stone & mortar, meaning the stones were of various shapes/sizes. The roof was slate, which was rare in 1810s America. Original documents indicate skylights in the center stairway and the wings, but these are not shown on later engravings.

The location of the demolished South Barracks on a map of modern West Point.

Rooms were 14’ x 10’ with wainscoting, whitewashed walls, and a fireplace. Fires were apparently common and each cadet room had a bucket if a bucket brigade was needed. Cadet were required to keep the fender up in front of a fire and could be punished for not doing so. Later, by the late 1820s it seems, coal replaced wood. Still, it seems the South Barracks was very cold in the winter and hot in the summer. There was little ventilation because rooms faced either north or south with solid walls in between. There was a small window above the door as well as a larger, regular window. In the early years of the building, cadets were not provided furniture, so there would have been little standardization to chairs and tables. Beds were not universal with many cadets sleeping on mattresses on the floor. A musket rack hung on the wall.

The South Barracks had no plumbing. The privies appear to have been located to the south of the building. Later facilities were built behind the North Barracks (1817) next door. Water was supplied by a spring on the south side.

A digital recreation of a cadet room in the South Barracks based on available evidence.