West Point Foundry Test Range

[Garret]

I've been trying to find information about shells recovered from the West Point Foundry test range online but there's not much information.  Does anyone know when these shells were recovered, by whom and if there's any more out there on what was the range?  Thanks in advance.   

[emike123]

I think I know enough for a partial answer and others can fill in. 

The West Point Test Range you are talking about is the target or impact area on Storm King Mountain adjacent to the US Military Academy at West Point.  It is just upriver from the school and on the same side of the river.  The furthest playing field upriver for the Military Academy is called "Target field" and is adjacent to this area.

Across the river is the site of Parrott's West Point foundry and the gun location that fired into the mountain is still there.   Abraham Lincoln himself fired a couple 13" balls from Seacoast mortars from there to ad to the thousands of test rounds fired into the stone of the mountain.

A number of folks dug in that area and found lots of stuff.  I cannot imagine they exhausted it, either on land or in the river below.  Unfortunately, the site is partially within the boundary of the Military Academy and the rest was given over to the adjacent State Park in recent times.  At the bottom of the hill are active train tracks and the water below that is deep and fast moving.  Therefore the location is now legally and practically off limits to relic hunting. 

I know a few people who hunted there.  They are still alive if that tells you what you need to know about how long ago it was (& right up until the portion was handed over to the adjoining state park), but they probably would not like me to list names here.  Happy to point you in a couple directions if you want to email me.

[Garret]

Mike,
No, not interested in relic hunting there.  Just curious.  I see a lot of mostly Parrott shells on dealers websites with the West Point recovered designation and wanted more insight about it.  I'm assuming that it was treated like most battlefields before they became protected and relic hunters could just take what they wanted?   Would you place the value of these West Point shells the same as if recovered on an actual battlefield? 
Garret

[Garret]

Plus there hasn't been much action on the Forum too....

[emike123]

Lots of Parrots because the factory was right actoss the river.  Neat place to visit as it was restored as part of a Superfund site cleanup of an old battery plant next door.   Some experimental shells are only found there like 7" Parrotts or 4.5" Hotchkiss bolts but lots of regular Parrotts, Hotchkisses and roundballs were too.   I don't think they are particulalrly more valuable because while some are uncommon, projectiles that did not find their way to a battlefield are less desirable to many.  The rocky, high ground means mist recoveries from there have good iron also.  Thanks for making an interesting post.

[Jack Bell]

I saw a collection some years ago,with many of the projectiles recovered off the West Point Test Range.  A number of them were quite rare, but never made it into battlefield use.  as Mike said, these included 6.4-inch and 7.0-inch manufactured for the obsolete rifled 32- and 42 pounders guarding key northern  ports and cities late in the war. It also included the unusual shaped 4.5-inch Hotchkiss bolts, proof shots, and a number of type II and III 7-inch Parrott shells without finished fuze holes. I understand that some of the collection is still intact.  I have also seen photos of 15-inch test shells and shot being rolled down the steep hill toward the railroad tracks.  All "ancient" history as the property is now West Point and staste-controlled.

An interesting coda.  When I was doing the book, I was told that West Point had hired a contractor to remove any remaining ordnance on the side of the hill facing the Academy (close to base housing) and the contractor was allowed to keep everything recovered. It included a number of WW II rockets.

[24thMichigan]

Here is a 7-inch Parrott shell that came from there.