BurtonHall

Burton Hall: The Delaware Military Heritage and Educational Foundation Inc. will operate a suitable museum and
educational facility to interpret and display items from its collection to the general public. The State of Delaware has
provided to us the building known as Burton Hall to house and display the collections of the Foundation. Burton Hall is
located at Fort d uPont in Delaware City, Delaware. Fort duPont was constructed in 1861 as a shore battery to augment
nearby historic Fort Delaware in the Delaware River. Today it is a state park.

Burton Hall was the former Post Exchange, built in 1906 constructed of brick in a style reminiscent of the Beaux Arts
style. It is majestically sited at the head of a very long greensward on the Fort duPont parade ground with the Delaware
River to its back. It is structurally sound but requires asbestos removal before repairs and renovations can begin on the
building. The first step in bringing this elegant structure back to life is to obtain a professionally developed concept plan
from an architectural engineering firm. When complete, further renovations and repair of infrastructure to bring it up to
code requirements will cost $1,590,000 (W.C. Gomez Associates, Inc.)

The Post Exchange, aka, Burton Hall, was built in accordance with Army Standard Plan number 175. According to the
University of Delaware’s Center for Historic Architecture and Engineering study, Fort duPont Delaware: An Architectural
Survey and Evaluation, it is a five-bay, load-bearing masonry building…one-and-one half stories over a raised
basement. The hipped roof is covered in asphalt shingles; a box cornice decorates the eaves. Three-light frieze
windows are centered over the windows of the double-pile main block. Window openings have an all-header arch and
cast concrete sills. The type of window sash for the basement and first floor is concealed. The central door is three-
part recessed panel with sidelights and evidence of a fanlight; the door is part of a gable-roof projecting architrave
decorated with quoins and a keystone. The building has a sandstone water table and a brick belt course. A small
frame addition is located on the northwest elevation.

Fort duPont was placed on the National Historic Register in 1999. Burton Hall (Post Exchange) qualified under Criterion
A for national coastal defense and Criterion C for standard military architecture.