Bonsal Cement Plant site

The Bonsal Cement Plant site in Baltimore is the place Frank Sheeran identified with two weapons-related journeys: collecting war matériel for the Bay of Pigs invasion and delivering rifles shortly before the JFK assassination. When Charles Brandt accompanied him there, the site offered a suggestive but incomplete match to Sheeran’s recollection: the company name had changed, new buildings had appeared, and the brickyard he remembered could not be found.

Names and Earlier Use

Before the visit, Sheeran told Brandt that the place was called the Campbell Brickyard and gave him a general idea of its location. They could not find a brickyard, so Brandt drove into the Bonsal plant to ask for help. A female employee explained that, when her father had worked there, Bonsal had been the Campbell Cement Company, though she knew of no Campbell Brickyard. The exchange linked the present plant to Sheeran’s remembered name without confirming that a brickyard had stood there.

The Building Sheeran Identified

As they entered the grounds, something about the plant seemed familiar to Sheeran. After driving around, he pointed to an older structure and identified it as the place soldiers had come out to load the truck. Some newer buildings had also been erected on the grounds. Brandt photographed the structure, and they returned to Philadelphia; the visit produced a specific landmark in Sheeran’s account, but did not independently establish what the building had been used for.