Allegheny Arsenal, Historic military site in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh, US
The Allegheny Arsenal is a historic military site in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A few original brick buildings, stone walls, and a former powder magazine still stand today within Arsenal Park.
The arsenal was founded in 1814 and became a key supply point for the US Army, especially during the Civil War. On September 17, 1862, an explosion killed 78 workers, many of them young women of Irish origin who made cartridges on site.
Arsenal Park is walkable and sits in Lawrenceville, a neighborhood well served by public transit. The grounds are best visited during daylight hours, when the old walls and memorial markers are easy to see.
The exact cause of the 1862 explosion has never been confirmed, with theories ranging from a spark from a horse's shoe to spilled gunpowder on the ground. The disaster happened on the same day as the Battle of Antietam, which meant it received almost no attention in the national news at the time.
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