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Page: View 3

Views of the Arsenal at Springfield

Page: View 1 | View 2 | View 3 | View 4
Date: 0
About this artifact

These four views of the United States Armory show the Springfield, Massachusetts, site at different stages in its 250-year-plus history. The first view shows the Armory from the the east, and was drawn in about 1850. View two is a drawing that depicts the arsenal grounds and buildings at about 1865. It shows the main building and the Hill Shops of Armory Square. The third view is of State and Federal streets in 1870. The fourth and final view is a contemporary photo of the main Arsenal building that was completed in about 1848. The Armory was established as an arsenal during the American Revolution and began manufacturing arms in 1794. It remained a center of arms research and production until the US Department of Defense closed the facility in 1968. The Armory became a National Park Service site in 1978. The main arsenal building is now a museum, housing archives, industrial exhibits, and the world's largest collection of historic American military shoulder arms. The former Armory grounds are also the home of Springfield Technical Community College; the STCC campus includes many old Armory structures.


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Courtesy Springfield Armory National Historic Site, US NPS, Springfield, MA