In 1811, the Mount Vernon Cantonment, located on a hill about three miles west of the Mobile River, was laid out by Col. Thomas H. Cushing. The cantonment was on the site of a spring called Mount Vernon Springs. In 1814, the garrison at Mt. Vernon was visited by Andrew Jackson. Construction of the Old Federal Road from Milledgeville, Georgia to Fort Stoddert, Alabama began in 1818. 1828 president Andrew Jackson authorized for Mt. Vernon to become a military arsenal. By 1830 the construction of a wall ten feet high and two feet thick began to encompass the arsenal. In 1861 Captain Jesse Reno surrendered Mt. Vernon arsenal to four confederate companies from Mobile. In 1866, the arsenal was returned to the Federal Government. 1870 Mt. Vernon post ceased to be an arsenal. In 1873, William Belknap, Secretary of War recommended the arsenal property become Mt. Vernon Barracks. In 1887, 450 Apaches came to Mt. Vernon from Fort Pickens, Florida. Among them were Indian Chiefs Geronimo, Chihuahua, and Natchez (Son of Cochise). In 1895 Mt. Vernon barracks was given to the State of Alabama.
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