Site 2: Screwmen's Armory — The Screwmen Go to War: The Present Disturbed State of the Country

It's not difficult to picture- young men milling outside along the streets. Everyone would want to know which regiment and company their friends and neighbors were assigned to, where training will take place, and who their officers are. Today, many of these details might be shared by text message or social media post. But during the outset of the Civil War, word-of-mouth or letters would inform friends and family members of one's assignment.

Before the Civil War, an armory stood at 14 Canal Street, a site connected to both New Orleans’ screwmen and the city's military history.

The building housed the Cook and Brother Confederate Armory, established by two English brothers who manufactured Enfield-style rifles and bayonets for the Confederacy. The operation was short-lived, relocating to Athens, Georgia, in 1862.

During the Civil War, members of the Screwmen’s Guard, a military company associated with the city's waterfront workers, gathered here to discuss their deployment into Confederate service. Decades later, in 1898, the armory served as a recruiting center for volunteers during the Spanish-American War.

Today, the original building is gone, and no known photographs survive. The surrounding area has changed dramatically, leaving little to suggest the site's military past.

Although nothing remains of the armory itself, this stretch of Canal Street once played a role in two American wars and in the history of the screwmen who worked along New Orleans’ busy waterfront.