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If you look around Redwood City and the peninsula in general, you may come across some semi-circle shaped buildings. Most of them date back decades to the years after World War ll. These buildings are of a particular design known as Quonset Hut.
The name itself is derived from precisely where the very first Quonset Huts were produced, a small coastal enclave in Rhode Island next to North Kingston. A tiny peninsula jutting out into Narraganset Bay is named Quonset Point, and it is the home of Quonset Point Naval Air Station.
It was also the home of Camp Endicott, which was where the Atlantic fleet Seabees were based.
Currently, Quonset Point is the home of Quonset State Airport, a jointly owned state and civilian-run airport.
As for the Quonset Hut itself, it’s a prefabricated structure made of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section, which makes for a unique look.
The first Quonset Huts were produced by the U.S. Navy in 1941. They filled a need the Navy had for an all-purpose lightweight building that could be shipped anywhere and assembled without skilled labor. A team of 10 assembled them in one day using simple hand tools.
The original design used low-grade steel, which was later replaced by a more rust-resistant version. The flexible interior space was open, which allowed them to be used as barracks, medical and dental offices, Isolation wards, housing and even latrines.
The original size was 16 ft x 36 ft. with an 8 ft. radius. Ultimately, the most popular size became 20 ft. x 48 ft. with a 16 ft. radius.
Between 150,000 and 175,000 Quonset Huts were manufactured during WWll. Surplus units were sold to the public after the war, and as indicated, they can still be seen in towns along the peninsula and, indeed, the US.
Everything else is just history
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