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Kennebec Arsenal is a historic arsenal on Arsenal Street in Augusta, Maine. Largely developed between 1828 and 1838 in part because of border disputes with neighboring New Brunswick, it was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2000 as a good example of a nearly intact early 19th-century munitions storage facility.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=NHL nomination for Kennebec Arsenal )〕 The arsenal property was garrisoned until 1901, after which it was turned over to the State of Maine as an expansion of the adjacent Maine State Hospital. The state for many years housed mental health patients there. ==Development history== The events of the War of 1812 highlighted the needs of the United States to better defend its coast against potential foreign attacks, so the federal government embarked on a large-scale development of coastal and border fortifications. Maine in particular was singled out, having had some of its communities occupied during the war, along with an ongoing border dispute with neighboring New Brunswick over the northeastern border. Tensions surrounding that border area (now roughly Aroostook County, Maine and Madawaska County, New Brunswick) rose in the 1820s as both sides pressed for development of the area. As a result, the decision was made to build a major arsenal at Augusta. The site, on the east bank of the Kennebec River south of the central business district, was chosen in part for its ready access by boat. Plans were drafted in 1827 and construction began in 1828.〔 Built between 1828 and 1831 were commandant's and officer quarters, barracks, stables, a carriage shop, and the main armory. Most of the major structures were built out of granite. Between 1832 and 1838 the quarters were enlarged and given their present Greek Revival styling, and the large and small magazines were built, as was a munitions laboratory. A perimeter fence of granite and iron was also added, and the building known as the Office was built, in part from the demolished remains of a stable (which was rebuilt in wood).〔 The border dispute reached crisis proportions in 1838, with both Maine and New Brunswick organizing militia forces to send to the disputed area. The United States sent General Winfield Scott to the arsenal in Augusta, and he negotiated a stand-down of these forces with New Brunswick Lieutenant Governor John Harvey, who was a friend. The border was fixed at its present location by the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty.〔 The arsenal thereafter declined in importance, seeing use for the manufacture of weapons for the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. Because of its comparatively remote location, it was deemed unsuitable for the large-scale production of weapons, and only relative modest changes were made to it prior to its 1901 closure. The armory and carriage shop were both moved closer to the river bank, and a fire station was added to the property, as were several wood frame buildings.〔 After the federal government closed the arsenal, the property was transferred to the state, which expanded the adjacent Maine State Hospital, a facility for the mentally ill, onto the property. The wood-frame structures were all torn down, as were the carriage shop and fire station, and the granite buildings were adapted for the hospital's use. These alterations did not make major alterations to the floor plan of most of the surviving buildings.〔 The Maine State Hospital, later renamed the Augusta Mental Health Institute, closed it doors in 2004, and the arsenal property was sold to a developer, with historic preservation restrictions. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kennebec Arsenal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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