TENSAW – By the end of this month, there will be a historically accurate blockhouse guarding one corner of Fort Mims.

While not the structure that was started this spring, officials are thrilled to see the dovetail jointed beams being set in place this week.

“One of the guys helping us get it here said this was the best built and most historically accurate blockhouse he had ever seen,” said Fort Mims director Claudia Campbell.

A small crew began the tedious process of reassembling the blockhouse one timber at a time Tuesday morning. Butch Fuller, who is heading the reconstruction, estimated it will take about five days to set and spike the massive timbers on the two-story structure. Putting on the roof and finishing the inside will take another week. Even with dirtwork and laying sod around the base, the blockhouse will be finished in plenty of time for the 200th anniversary of the Fort Mims massacre on Aug. 30.

“We are thrilled to see it going up,” said Campbell. “This has been in the works for quite some time. The size changed our enthusiasm didn’t.”

The Fort Mims Restoration Association has been working for years to rebuild the blockhouse that offered security and a high vantage point for the early settlers. Officials were working on a blockhouse using round logs and saddle notches when they were informed it was not historically accurate. They needed squared timbers with half-dovetail joints.

Changing direction

The association went back to Square One. An architect worked for about 8 months on a suitable design when Campbell got a call offering them a blockhouse in rural Georgia. All they had to do is dismantle it, truck it to Alabama and reassemble it.

“It was almost like divine intervention,” said Campbell. “The cost to dismantle it, move it and rebuild it was a lot less than it was going to cost us to build one from scratch. The funny thing is, they had already offered it to us once and we turned them down.”

In December 2011, a Daughters of the American Revolution chapter offered the association a replica blockhouse built near Omaha, GA. Since Fort Mims was actively working on their own blockhouse, they turned down the offer. When opportunity knocked a second time, officials jumped on the chance.

“It was out in the middle of nowhere,” said Campbell. “It was getting hard to take care of and the roads made it difficult for people to go and see it.”

The replica of Fort McCreary’s blockhouse is historically accurate for Fort Mims. In addition, Fort McCreary played a role in the Creek Wars, as did the Baldwin County site.

Fuller said the blockhouse was well constructed. The timbers were all spiked together, making the dismantling process a little longer.

“Some of the logs it took us 20 minutes to remove one log, because of all the spikes,” said Fuller. “The interesting thing is it was built with convict labor, with no power tool or equipment on the site.

“Every log was raised by hand, even the second floor.”

Dismantling the blockhouse took about six days, with special care taken to label each log to make reassembly easier. Removing the pieces took a lot longer.

“We had it down for two weeks before we could get it out,” said Fuller.

“Every storm cloud in southwest Georgia goes over Omaha, GA,” Pete Dunaway said jokingly.

Weeks of rain, combined with dirt roads lead to muddy conditions that kept the flatbed trucks away from the location. The timbers finally arrived last Friday. Fuller, Dunaway and Neil Faulkenberry set the sills and first logs Tuesday. The roughly 23-foot tall structure should be completed in about two weeks.

The cost of bringing the blockhouse to Tensaw and rebuilding it was funded by sponsorships and a grant from the Poarch Indians, Campbell said.