Watertown Arsenal Civil War shot tower

Background context for the Army materials lab — "since the 1860s that was the U.S. Army's materials lab. They used to make cannonballs there."

What happened — I can't tell you everything because some of it's classified — but I used to sit on the committee that reviewed the materials and mechanics group at Aberdeen Proving Ground. This used to be the materials group out at Watertown — Watertown Arsenal Mall now. Since the 1860s that was the U.S. Army's materials lab. They used to make cannonballs there in the 1860s, in the mall area. Some of those buildings were almost original. They moved to Aberdeen Proving Ground, where the Army does all their ballistic studies, and built them a beautiful new building.