Built in 1823, the Civil War Recruitment Building, located in the Borough of Waterford, was used as the the recruitment center for the Pennsylvania 83rd regiment, Company E, during the Civil War.
The building, though historical in its significance, is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Erie County. Owned and maintained by a private owner, under the cover of darkness on a Monday morning on Labor Day in 2014 the owner removed and threw away all the architectural wood trim and ornamentation that defined the building’s period, then proceeded to cover the building entirely with vinyl siding, creating a modern facade.
During the civil war Waterford was the designated recruitment center for the surrounding area. The recruitment building, located on the east side of High Street, between South Park and East Second Street, was home to the Pennsylvania 83rd regiment, commonly called the 83rd Pennsylvania.
The 83rd Pennsylvania was a volunteer infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. They participated in almost every major battle in the East, including Seven Days Battles, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg and the South’s Surrender. They, alongside the 20th Maine, 44th New York and the 16th Michigan, fought in the spirited defense of Little Round Top in which former regiment commander Colonel Strong Vincent, native of Waterford, was mortally wounded. The 83rd Pennsylvania suffered the second-highest number of battle deaths among Union Army infantry regiments during the war, behind only the 5th New Hampshire.
The regiment was mustered into United States service on September 8, 1861, then Mustered out June 28, 1865, after the war. During the war the Regiment lost during service 11 Officers and 271 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 2 Officers and 151 Enlisted men by disease. Total 435.
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| The recruitment building before the modern facade. |
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| The recruitment building before the modern facade. |
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| The recruitment building today, with the modern facade. |
