MassachusettsA contributing property in the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. A National Historic Landmark comprising Armory Square, the fifty-four-acre hilltop administrative core of the Springfield Armory, the federal arsenal formally established in 1794. Arranged around an 8.75-acre parade ground, the complex holds nearly thirty brick buildings, mostly in a restrained functional idiom with Greek Revival and Federal detailing, ranging in date from the 1807 West Arsenal through World War II, unified by consistent scale, white trim, slate roofs, and a mid-19th-century iron fence. The Armory served the American Revolution as a supply depot, was the target of Shays' Rebellion in 1787, pioneered the interchangeability of parts, and for decades was the nation's principal manufacturer of military small arms. It is significant in military and industrial history and as the best-preserved administrative center of a major arsenal that reached its greatest growth in the first half of the 19th century.
Springfield Armory - Experimental Department Proving Range
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Springfield Armory - Experimental Department Proving Range is a landmark in Springfield, Hampden County. It is one of 3,654 landmarks documented in Hampden County, among 3,815 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.
The site sits at 42.1100, -72.5813 near Springfield. The nearest cataloged historic site is Springfield Armory Building #28 - Experimental Department Building (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Springfield Armory Building #19 - Long Storehouse, Springfield Armory Building #32 - Armory Workshop, and Springfield Armory Building #8- Officers' Quarters.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
Springfield's Experimental Department was where American service rifles were argued into existence, and a proving range was the ground on which the arguments were settled. The department expanded sharply after the First World War; John Garand joined the armory staff in 1919 and spent the next fifteen years there developing the semi-automatic rifle that entered service as the M1. Testing continued until the Department of Defense shut the armory in 1968, ending 174 years of federal arms work on the hill.
Sources: en.wikipedia.orgnps.gov
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