Springfield Armory: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Killion J. 2025. Springfield Armory: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Springfield Armory National Historic Site. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 650056. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
The Springfield Armory National Historic Site is a 54.92-acre complex located in Springfield, Massachusetts, in Hampden County. Known historically as Armory Square, the site is situated on a hill immediately northeast of the Connecticut River and the center city area. The site commemorates the critical role Springfield Armory played in the nation’s military and industrial history. First created as a military storage depot by the fledgling US Army in 1777, Springfield Armory was authorized by Congress and President George Washington in 1794 to manufacture small arms for the nation’s defense. The armory was the federal center for the development and manufacture of U.S. military small arms from 1794 until its deactivation in 1968. The Springfield Armory National Historic Site (NHS) was authorized in 1974 and became established as a National Park Service (NPS) unit in 1978. The NPS owns and manages the western 20.32-acre portion of the site, which includes the Main Arsenal (Building 13), the Commanding Officer’s Quarters (Building 1). This area features scattered trees and lawns, as well as several wooded steep slopes and a ravine. The middle and eastern 34.61-acre portion of the site are owned and managed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and operated by the Springfield Technical Community College (STCC). This area includes the main entrance, a tree-filled lawn called the Green, and most of the property’s historic buildings and structures that surround the Green, and a mix of historic and non-historic buildings to the north and east. The entire property is enclosed by a historic iron fence. The organization of the Armory Square complex is structured around the central, rectangular-shaped Green defined by a slightly offset walk extending along the main east/west axis, and cross-axis walk extending north/south. These walks intersect at an offset central oval. Formal single rows of trees line these walks, and roughly line the perimeter of the Green. Informal plantings of trees dot the northern part of the Green but are less prevalent on the south side, which is used as the college’s athletic fields. Other than the Green, much of the grounds occupied by STCC are used as surface parking to accommodate some of the approximately 5,400 students enrolled in day and night classes. The Armory Square site represents one of five areas that comprised the Springfield Armory complex during its period of operation. The Federal Square area, located across Federal Street on the adjacent block to the east, were collectively known as the Hill Shops. The Water Shops (or Upper Water Shops), was a manufacturing area located along the Mill River approximately one mile southeast of the Hill Shops area. The Railhead Area Testing Facility was located on Page Boulevard, approximately 1.5 miles northeast of the Hill Shops. The fifth area was the Magazine. The Federal Square, Water Shops, and Railhead Area facilities are privately owned and not managed as cultural resources, nor are they the focus of this Cultural Landscape Inventory.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Killion, Jeffrey
- Date of Issue
- 2025
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NER , SPAR
- Keywords
- America Becomes A World Power 1865-1914, And War Vehicles), Archeology, Architecture, Armory Square, Battles In The North And South, Developing the American Economy, Development of the Colonies, Education, Expanding Science and Technology, Expressing Cultural Values, Federal (1780-1820), Greek Revival (1820-1840), Hill Shops, Historic Designed Landscape, Historic Site, Historic-Non-Aboriginal, Industry, Landscape Architecture, Machinery And Instruments, Manufacturing Organizations, Military, Military (Fortifications, Peopling Places, Period Revivals (1870-1940), Physical Development, Political and Military Affairs 1783-1860, Political and Military Affairs 1865-1939, Political and Military Affairs After 1945, Politics/Government., Renaissance Revival (1830-1920), Second Empire (1850-1890), Shaping the Political Landscape, Springfield Armory, Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Technology (Engineering and Invention), The Aftermath Of WW II, The American Revolution, The Army And Navy, The Civil War, The Home Front, The Revival Of Classicism, Urban Planning In The Nineteenth Century, War in the North, Weapons, World War II