Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range

2011 – 2017

It’s hard to believe that the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range has its roots in a project that began nearly six years ago.

2011

In May 2011, the Landscape/Grounds Committee of Caswell Dunes held a workday that included volunteers in the neighborhood. This group of people stopped to consider the structure that they traveled past almost daily. And so the discussion began.

Is it an eyesore? A piece of history? Should it be saved? What is a bunker anyway?

2012

The volunteers reached out to Jim McKee, Historical Interpreter at the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson Historical Site, asking him to visit and perhaps advise us as to what this structure is.

“When we think of World War I, we tend to think of Europe and trench warfare,” McKee said. “You don’t hear as much about how our boys got ready over here to go over there. The last World War I veteran died earlier this year. This is significant.”

[Note: Jim McKee was referring to Frank Buckles, the last remaining World War I veteran, dying at age 110 in February 2011.]

Jim McKee and people from the NC State Historical Preservation Office visited.

2013

Word was received in early January that the rifle pit may be added to the Fort Caswell application for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. But $1640 was required. The Caswell Dunes Special Interest Group organized funding.

Fundraising, including the first annual Kentucky Derby Day, began the first Saturday in May.

December 31, 2013, the Fort Caswell Historic District and the dis-contiguous Rifle Range Target Pit was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places.

2014

The second annual Kentucky Derby-themed fundraiser was planned and held.

2015

The Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range, Inc was founded as a non-profit with 501(c)(3) status on March 17, 2015, with a mission to stabilize and preserve the Fort Caswell Rifle Range.

2016

Trees pressing against the north wall were removed and core drilling performed. Structural engineer Brian Ross along with the assistance of Paul Shivers presented the final engineering report November 29, 2016.

The annual Kentucky Derby Day fundraiser included the World War I Wall of Honor, displaying pictures and stories of WWI ancestors sent in by people in the community and beyond.

Fort Caswell Rifle Range was chosen as one of the most threatened historic places for 2016 in the Wilmington and the Lower Cape Fear region.

2017

• A contractor must be found to plumb the tilted wall.
• Additional funds must be raised.
• After the passageway wall is stabilized, the lintels (two doorways) need repaired and the cracks need filled with epoxy.

• A web site was established with the following name www.caswellriflerange.com
• An email address was also established: ftcaswellriflerange@gmail.com
• Business cards were ordered.

2018

The centennial of the Fort Caswell Rifle Range.

For more details about the past six years, visit the Stabilization page.

$1640 – Registering on ‘National List of Historic Places’
$400 – Obtaining 501(c)(3) status
$3200 – Tree Removal
$1425 – Hydrological Study
$4850 – Engineering Study
$1400 – Insurance

Future needs

Straighten passageway wall
Repair lintels
Repair cracks
Seal inside walls
Read the story

Setting the goal

Paul Shivers, our project engineer, is searching for contractor(s) to offer quotes for straightening the passageway wall.

• The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution contributed $1500 from the Harriet Barlowe Memorial fund for an educational tablet.
• First Bank of Brunswick County contributed $500 for a plaque displaying the entry on the National Register of Historic Places.

Thank you for your support! Visit our Fundraising page.

The Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range are working quickly to detail the accomplishments completed to date on the stabilization efforts and the funds used for the work that the volunteers could not complete on their own. See https://caswellriflerange.com/stabilization/ for a chronology beginning in 2011. The Friends believe it’s already been an amazing transformation! But there’s still a lot of work to do.

Before

 After

One of the goals for this website is detailing the work not yet completed and funds needed to allow donors to see how their donations will be used. Lee Hinnant, staff writer for The State Port Pilot http://stateportpilot.com/ has written about the proposed repairs, which could total $30,000 to $50,000 to save this important and unique structure from WWI.

Range repairs are proposed

The Friends will be updating the fundraising page and thermometer soon  https://caswellriflerange.com/fundraising/ and thanking our previous donors – there are many. Thank you for your continued support!