Half Moon Battery

History

The battery sat 100 feet above the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, offering a spectacular view of the rivers’ valleys and traffic. It may have been the platform for a 24-pounder howitzer listed on an early inventory. To make way for the battery in 1820, builders removed a tree (during Snelling’s absence and against his orders), revealing a bottle containing a copy of Zebulon Pike’s 1805 treaty purchasing the military reservation.

By the late 1830s, a suspended walkway connected the battery with the nearby Commanding Officer’s Quarters. Shortly after the Civil War, a conical roof was added to the structure and its use was listed as a bandstand. Like many other of the fort’s buildings, the Half-Moon Battery was demolished around 1879.

Archaeology

Shown on the fort’s earliest map as the Zebulon Blockhouse with a pentagonal foundation, the structure was apparently changed in shape during construction. Below the semi-circular foundation, archaeologists found earlier foundation blocks arranged in a pentagon.

Today

The reconstructed battery now features displays of historic images that provide dramatic contrast -- and some remarkable similarities -- to the panoramas still seen from its deck.