Bannerman
 

Hi All,
There is a short but interesting story about Francis Bannerman on the back page of the September issue of the American Rifleman magazine. He must have been a very wealty man to build this castle.

Mike

That's Bannerman Castle on the Hudson River near West Point. I explored the island years ago before the Castle started crumbling. There is now a group looking to preserve and restore what's left of the structure.
We have a long thread on the castle here on the site somewhere.

From what I can read, Mr. Bannerman stuffed some most interesting items into the castle, and spread some around on the grounds. He had to be VERY wealthy to do what he did.

The seawalls had hundreds of stripped Trapdoor and Krag barreled actions as rebar!! Everywhere you saw the wall crumbling, there were rifle actions poking out. When I visited, there were thousands of rotting British Colonial Pith helmets stacked in the open basement. A kid who tried to step onto the island from a boat back in the 1980's slipped and his leg broke through the top of a wooden chest buried in the mud along the seawall. When authorities dug it out it contained a rare Gatling gun and mount, well preserved by the mud. I think it's at the West Point Museum today.

Thank God the firearms he sold more sturdy then his walls!