Jewels of the Great War
Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", October 2002, page 10
The year was 1916. An angry war raged in Europe and above the small town of
San Pedro in California, construction crews were busy building massive gun emplacements
to protect the Los Angeles Harbor below. Battery Osgood-Farley at
Fort MacArthur was one of many "Coastal Defense Sites" built during
World War I. With 20 foot thick concrete walls and two huge 14"
"disappearing" artillery guns, Osgood-Farley was a maze of tunnels and
rooms that formed a self-contained fortress. The huge guns could propel a 1560
pound projectile to a range of 17 miles.
Firing of 14" Gun at Battery Osgood, provided by
Fort MacArthur Military
Museum Association.
Below this site there was a different
kind of production going on. The California Insulator Company was producing
glass insulators at West Anaheim Road and Hayes Street. In the company's last
year of production, the U.S. Army purchased glass insulators to install at the
new Osgood-Farley Battery.
The electrical room at Osgood-Farley where the
California insulators were installed in 1916 is now preserved at Fort MacArthur
Military Museum under the direction of Mr. Steve Nelson. The insulators
photographed are untouched since they were installed in 1916. The electrical panel still
supplies the electricity to the Battery. The lone porcelain insulator pictured
was a replacement at an unknown time, but the California "pinch eared"
CD 260 original insulator lay broken on a work bench nearby. The photo shown is
the same broken CD 260 repaired.
Electrical room at Battery Osgood-Farley,
now housing the Fort MacArthur
Museum.
Work table with broken CD 260 California
at lower left, repaired at the
right.
Power carrying cables hang from CD 260 California insulators
mounted from
ceiling beams. Protection was afforded by the
Westinghouse fuse
"cut-outs" installed.
Fort MacArthur Museum is said to be the "best preserved example of a
U.S. Army seacoast battery." And, possibly, one of the finer glass
insulator examples from history.
The Fort MacArthur Military Museum is located
just off Gaffey Street at the Angels Gate Park in San Pedro, California. They
are open Saturday and Sunday, 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.; and Tuesday and Thursday
from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. Their staff is gracious and informative and create
a truly unique experience.
My special thanks to Mr. Steve Nelson and staff and my friend Mr. Gene
Fredrickson of the Armed Forces Radio and Television.
Barry Repsher, author
Huntington Beach, CA
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