Why are vintage POWDER HOUSES round ? Any in your town ?

[CaseHardened]

Here in eastern Mass at least three remain:

Preservation funding eyed for powder house restoration

Over the years I heard two explanations why they are round (or nearly so).

One was with a circular building there are no corners inside that would be difficult to keep clean, and thus dangerous.

Another was if they blew up the circular shape somehow contained the explosion better.

What do you think ?

 

[Deplorable Me]

Do they tell gun banning politicians to go stand in the corner?

 

[Phritz]

Phallic shape because we're compensating?

 

[Calculon]

According to this article a round building is less susceptible to wind (and tsunami) damage and uses 15% to 20% less materials for same square feet.
Why our ancestors built round houses - and why it still makes sense to build round structures today

 

[CaseHardened]

According to this article a round building is less susceptible to wind (and tsunami) damage and uses 15% to 20% less materials for same square feet.
Why our ancestors built round houses - and why it still makes sense to build round structures today

But they are tricky to build, are labor intensive, and furniture and appliances fit poorly inside.

 

[spat]

But they are tricky to build, are labor intensive, and furniture and appliances fit poorly inside.

In the past the labor costs were minimal compared to the material cost (labor was cheap). The opposite is true today.

Also, people didn't have anywhere near as much stuff, certainly not appliances and little furniture.

 

[CaseHardened]

In the past the labor costs were minimal compared to the material cost (labor was cheap). The opposite is true today.

Also, people didn't have anywhere near as much stuff, certainly not appliances and little furniture.

True, but we're getting a little off-topic. Which I don't mind; it's just that I would like to know more about Powder Houses.

I've seen many pics of Colonial Era homes, sheds, warehouses, etc. And except for Powder Houses, I don't recall any being circular.

 

[livingston]

Hallowell Powder House
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Powder House Lot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Location High St., 0.25 miles (0.40 km) S. of jct. with Winthrop St., Hallowell, Maine
Coordinates

44°17′19″N 69°48′0″W / 44.28861°N 69.80000°W / 44.28861; -69.80000Coordinates:

44°17′19″N 69°48′0″W / 44.28861°N 69.80000°W / 44.28861; -69.80000
Area 0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built 1819 (1819)
Architectural style Brick Utilitarian Enclosure
NRHP reference # 02000348[1]
Added to NRHP April 11, 2002
The Hallowell Powder House is a historic military storage facility on High Street in Hallowell, Maine. Built in 1819, it is one of three documented early 19th-century arms magazines in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 as the Powder House Lot.[1]


Hallowell Powder House
Description and history[edit]
The Hallowell Poweder House stands on the east side of High Street, roughly midway between Central and Winthrop Streets, on a hillside lot with views of the Kennebec River and downtown Hallowell to the east. it is a small brick building, with a gabled roof and granite foundation. There are no windows, and a single wooden door on one of the long sides. A portion of one wall has been rebuilt using wood framing, and is finished in wooden clapboards. The interior is spare, its walls lined by shelving made of two-inch planking that has been mortared to the walls and is further supported by centered wooden elements. There is evidence of old roofing under the existing roofing material.[2]

Although it was traditionally ascribed a construction date of 1813 (during the War of 1812), town records show that its construction was authorized in 1819. At that time Maine was about to become a state independent of Massachusetts, and pride in the local militia was at a high. After border disputes with neighboring New Brunswick were resolved in 1842, militia requirements in the state were relaxed, and the powder house fell out of service. In 1943, the town sold the property to the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.[2]
Hallowell Powder House - Wikipedia

 

[livingston]

Historic Powder Houses of New England

 

[livingston]

https://www.amazon.com/Historic-Pow...&qid=1515672502&sr=1-1&keywords=9781625847201

 

[CaseHardened]

Historic Powder Houses of New England

Looks like this book has all the answers !

And any functional reason for a round Powder House is largely myth.

Check out this one, courtesy of the Manchester Historical Society:

Not round, but isolated, and high on a hill.

Looks like a good target for lightning, but so far, so good.

 

[1911guy]

Where can I buy a round lot?

 

[thegatman]

Where can I buy a round lot?

Right "a-round" here.

 

[tony]

I know of rectangular " powder magazines " with stone walls 3 ft thick. The buildings were designed to blow vertically not horizontally.

Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, NY.

Didn't know we had an arsenal in NY? I believe it opened in 1813.

 

[Robin]

Powder Mills Park | Town of Pittsford, New York

 

[ArmedCorgi]

I know of rectangular " powder magazines " with stone walls 3 ft thick. The buildings were designed to blow vertically not horizontally.

Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, NY.

Didn't know we had an arsenal in NY? I believe it opened in 1813.

We still do. They make/made gun barrels. The building is still in use.

 

[tony]

Yes we do... They make lots of things, not only gun barrels. I am not at liberty to say... hehehe.