Fort Slocum’s Quartermaster Area was one of the busiest places on the post. Everyone and everything normally passed through it when entering or leaving the post. It was the hub of the post’s transportation system and the place where most supplies were stored before distribution.  It also had several workshops for maintenance and small-scale construction projects.

The Quartermaster Area was one of Fort Slocum’s oldest functionally-distinct sections. It had a direct predecessor in the layout of the Civil War-era De Camp General Hospital.

Although several generations of buildings occupied the Quartermaster Area from the 1860s to the 1960s, their functions remained fairly constant. Throughout the Army’s century on Davids Island, the area included one or more docks and contained storehouses for dry goods and foodstuffs, a coal storage area, workshops, some administrative offices, vehicle storage, guard post, and some non-officer housing.

In the 20th century, the Quartermaster Area was anchored along the shore by the Freight Pier and Passenger Dock, Fort Slocum’s adjoining main docks. The area extended from the docks up a slope toward Officers’ Row and the Parade Ground. It contained a mix of masonry buildings (mostly of brick) and wood-frame ones. In the 1950s there was also a 16-space trailer park in this section of the post, where NCOs could set up their individually-owned house trailers while assigned to Fort Slocum.