Many American starforts presently sport mysterious extracurricular construction such as this, which usually relates to various additions made during the Endicott Period at the end of the 19th century...concrete pads were added and used as the base for generators, for instance. Almost uniquely amongst American coastal starforts, however, Forts Pike and Macomb were not the beneficiaries of Endicottian largesse: For whatever reason, the Rigolets Pass wasn't considered by Secretary Endicott to be a strategic waterway. What these wayward bricks may represent is a base for a water condenser. Once it had been disappointingly observed that cisterns would not reliably keep potable water separate from not-so-potable water in this environment, three of Fort Pike's gun ports were bricked in and water condensers were installed in those casemates...two of which were along the fort's southern wall, which is the area we happen to be investigating right now!