Archaeologists locate walls of 1864 Ordnance Storehouse at Stillwell Field

Chris Merritt, Utah State Historic Preservation Officer, said archaeologists working at Stillwell Field have located structural remains of the Ordnance Storehouse depicted in an 1864 photograph. "This photo from 1864 shows 3 sandstone buildings flanking the West End of Stillwell Field," Merritt said, and the team's excavations this week "found the walls."

Merritt said the north wall appears as a "nice clear concentration of sandstone rubble" with a white stain in the soil where mortar has decayed, a feature archaeologists use to distinguish former masonry foundations from native ground. "The north wall is nicely locked in," he said. By contrast, Merritt said, "the south wall is pretty well demolished" and appears to have been leveled and pushed over when the parade ground was created.

The most intact feature, Merritt said, is the west wall, which the team exposed on the second day of the excavation. He described it as "really well intact," and said the foundation shows construction using large pieces of red butte sandstone sourced nearby. "It's really intact and gives us a really great indication of what this building would have looked like," Merritt said.

The findings link the excavation to the 1864 image and to construction techniques visible in the exposed masonry and mortar stains. Merritt framed the discovery as an early-stage archaeological result: the team has identified wall locations and construction materials but did not announce formal conservation measures or next steps during the remarks recorded in the transcript.

The excavation provides physical evidence for the Ordnance Storehouse's footprint and foundation methods; Merritt noted these details help researchers understand the building's appearance and construction but did not specify a timeline for further work or public outreach.