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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	SPRINGFIELD ARMORY NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE Massachusetts	Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Hampden County, Armory and Federal Squares, Springfield; address: Springfield Armory National Historic Site One Armory Square Suite 2, Springfield, MA 01105-1299. Springfield Armory National Historic Site

Significance. This armory, founded in 1794, is the Government's oldest manufacturing arsenal. The small arms it has produced have been used in every war since that time and are known for their quality through out the world. Even before the War for Independence, Springfield, settled by many skilled gunsmiths, blacksmiths, and other artisans, had become a firearm manufacturing center. As early as 1777, during the War for Independence, Gen. Henry Knox proposed that an armory be founded there, but the Federal Government did not act on the proposal.

In January 1787 State and Federal troops at the Federal arsenal in Springfield repulsed an attack by Daniel Shays and his followers—debt ridden farmers suffering from the depression that followed the War for Independence—and the rebellion collapsed. Indirectly, however, it influenced the adoption of the Federal Constitution, in May 1787, by demonstrating the need for a stronger central Government.

In 1789 the newly elected President, George Washington, inspected Springfield and subsequently recommended it as the location of a national armory. Five years later Congress authorized the founding of an armory there, and the following year production began. Forty workmen turned out about 20 muskets per month. In 1795 Congress authorized a second armory, at Harpers Ferry, W. Va., which a few years later went into production. The first arm made at the Springfield Armory was the U.S. Flintlock Musket, Model 1795, an adaptation of the French Charleville Musket, Model 1763—a weapon that had been widely used by U.S. troops in the War for Independence. Since that time many other types of small arms have been developed and produced at the armory.

Springfield Armory.

Present Appearance. Until the late 1960s', the Springfield Armory was the U.S. Army's principal research and development center and pilot manufactory for small arms. The first permanent building at the armory, a brick structure built in 1807 and known as the West Arsenal, is on Armory Square and once housed the Officers' Club and conference halls. The Middle Arsenal, on the State Street side of the square, built in 1830, was occupied by engineering offices. The Main Arsenal was located on the west side of the square. A boulder adjacent to the armory grounds on State Street marks the site of Shays' attack.

In 1968, amid speeches and farewell addresses, the men and women of Springfield Armory bid each other goodbye as the 'Stars and Stripes' were lowered for the last time. After nearly two centuries of continuous production of rifles and muskets used by America's armed forces in every war in the nation's history, the armory closed its gates and fell silent.

Reopened in 1978 as the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, the original 1840's arsenal houses the world's largest collection of American military firearms. Year-round public programs, exhibits, and special events are hosted on the grounds of the National Historic Landmark.

NHL Designation: 12/19/60