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In 1746 the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted that the "Stone Wind-Mill" in the part of Charlestown between "the Neck of Land and Cambridge" be renovated into a powder magazine. King George's War (the name commonly used for the North American operations of the War of the Austrian Succession) was in its sixth year and Governor Shirley believed the colony's existing facilities for storing munitions were inadequate. The windmill (which had been used to grind flour) was soon fitted for gunpowder storage. The Powder House was center stage in a prelude to open war between Britain and the colonies. In 1774 General Gage, doubting the loyalty of the local population, seized 250 barrels of gunpowder from the Powder House. Ironically, the raid left the colonists better prepared for actual rebellion. Foreseeing future British military actions, colonial leaders directed town governments to form special companies of soldiers capable of rapid response ("Minutemen") and instituted a system of express riders to warn of troop movements--the most famous of whom was, of course, Paul Revere. During the nineteenth century the Powder House and surrounding land became the property of the Tufts family, who donated the building and land to the city in 1890. The area was formally dedicated as Nathan Tufts Park in 1893.
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