Fort Riley, Building No. 234, 234 Lower Brick Row, Riley, Riley County, KS

Significance: Building #234 at Fort Riley is one of six brick duplexes completed in 1931 on Lower Brick Row. These structures combined with the 1889 buildings (#'s 117, 119, and 121), two more built in 1903 (Buildings #118 & #122) and another like Buildings #118 & #122, built in 1906 (Building #125), to complete the oval court that is Lower Brick Row. Capt. George E. Pond, Constructing Quartermaster at Fort Riley from 1885-1891, authored a plan for the fort's expansion after it became a school for the training of cavalry and light artillery troops in 1886. His plan included six residences laid out in an oval pattern for "non-commissioned staff officers" on Lower Brick Row. Building #234 represents one of two types of standard duplexes built in 1931 on Lower Brick Row and in 1939 on Stone Court and Riley Place. While Building #234 has a gable roof and a half circle arch over the entrance the other variation, represented by Building #235, has a hipped roof with an entablature above the entrance. Both variations were built in brick on Lower Brick Row and Riley Place, and in rock-faced ashlar limetone on Stone Court. Thus, because the same plans were used for buildings in three distinct developments they suggest the army's increased standardization. Building #234's grassy court setting utilizes the area's natural topography and creates a small community atmosphere that reflected the current "garden apartment" ideals as well as the army's effort to economize on roads and utilities. Their role as housing for non-commissioned officers is suggested in the simple designs with few ornamentations and their off-the-main-post location. The fort's hierarchical layout of buildings located the high ranking officers near the main post with lesser ranks dispersed farther out. Lower Brick Row's distinctive uniform brick facades are the result of large scale planning unique to the military. Though the court took more than forty years to complete the resulting buildings are similar in style, scale, and decorative features.
Survey number: HABS KS-54-P
Building/structure dates: 1931 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: ca. 1971 Subsequent Work