Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
All Credit for this article
goes to Mike Brown
and the
Rockdale Reporter
goes to Mike Brown
and the
Rockdale Reporter
Let’s Celebrate the Kay, and the Quonset Hut
Mike Brown - Reporter Editor
Rockdale Reporter - 2014-03-12
On Saturday the Kay Theater will dedicate its Recorded Texas Historic Landmark marker.
That’s a really big deal, the highest honor bestowed on landmarks by the Texas Historical Commission.
There’s one at the Alamo, the USS Texas, the capitol building, places like that.
Volunteers, of course, have been restoring the historic, Quonset Hut, former theatre since--uh, wait a minute.
Quonset Hut. We use that a lot when referring to the Kay, without stopping and thinking that not everybody remembers the era when high technology was a big-tube radio. Just what the heck exactly is a Quonset Hut?
You know the old saying “necessity is the mother of invention?” That’s the Quonset Hut.
In the early days of World War II the U. S. Navy needed an all-purpose, lightweight building that could be assembled without skilled labor and shipped anywhere in the world.
It contracted with the George A. Jacobs Company to produce one. In 60 days the Navy had them rolling off the assembly lines.
The design was simple, a half-circle of corrugated steel sheets over a slab, or with a wooden floor. The ends were filled in with wood frames but the inside was left open for use as, well, whatever.
They were first manufactured by the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center. And where was that?
Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
A famous name was born.
During the war, between 150,000 and 170,000 Quonset Huts were manufactured.
They were easy to make and easy to put up. They were used as barracks, administrative offices, doctors and dentists clinics, isolation wards, bakeries and even latrines.
After the war the military sold many of the surplus Quonset Huts to the public.
They were hugely popular for the same reasons they were used so universally in the military.
You didn’t need any special skills to put one up, just the dedication to commit to a lot of hard work.
During that period, a lot of civilian uses were found for Quonset Huts.
One would even be turned into a theater in Rockdale, Texas. The design was so good they never went away. A handful are still in use at U. S. military bases. Thorndale High School’s old gym is a Quonset Hut.
You can see them scattered over the American landscape to this day, recognizable by their shape.
Some live in them. They still make them, by the way. You can buy Quonser Huts in kits and thousands of people have made their own.
One recent photo caption on a Quonset Hut do-it-yourself website read: “This was done by three guys, me, one skilled carpenter and one willing but clueless guy who could climb like a monkey. And we got it built!”
mike@rockdalereporter.com
.
Mike Brown - Reporter Editor
Rockdale Reporter - 2014-03-12
On Saturday the Kay Theater will dedicate its Recorded Texas Historic Landmark marker.
That’s a really big deal, the highest honor bestowed on landmarks by the Texas Historical Commission.
There’s one at the Alamo, the USS Texas, the capitol building, places like that.
Volunteers, of course, have been restoring the historic, Quonset Hut, former theatre since--uh, wait a minute.
Quonset Hut. We use that a lot when referring to the Kay, without stopping and thinking that not everybody remembers the era when high technology was a big-tube radio. Just what the heck exactly is a Quonset Hut?
You know the old saying “necessity is the mother of invention?” That’s the Quonset Hut.
In the early days of World War II the U. S. Navy needed an all-purpose, lightweight building that could be assembled without skilled labor and shipped anywhere in the world.
It contracted with the George A. Jacobs Company to produce one. In 60 days the Navy had them rolling off the assembly lines.
The design was simple, a half-circle of corrugated steel sheets over a slab, or with a wooden floor. The ends were filled in with wood frames but the inside was left open for use as, well, whatever.
They were first manufactured by the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center. And where was that?
Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
A famous name was born.
During the war, between 150,000 and 170,000 Quonset Huts were manufactured.
They were easy to make and easy to put up. They were used as barracks, administrative offices, doctors and dentists clinics, isolation wards, bakeries and even latrines.
After the war the military sold many of the surplus Quonset Huts to the public.
They were hugely popular for the same reasons they were used so universally in the military.
You didn’t need any special skills to put one up, just the dedication to commit to a lot of hard work.
During that period, a lot of civilian uses were found for Quonset Huts.
One would even be turned into a theater in Rockdale, Texas. The design was so good they never went away. A handful are still in use at U. S. military bases. Thorndale High School’s old gym is a Quonset Hut.
You can see them scattered over the American landscape to this day, recognizable by their shape.
Some live in them. They still make them, by the way. You can buy Quonser Huts in kits and thousands of people have made their own.
One recent photo caption on a Quonset Hut do-it-yourself website read: “This was done by three guys, me, one skilled carpenter and one willing but clueless guy who could climb like a monkey. And we got it built!”
mike@rockdalereporter.com
.