Springfield Armory National Historic Site

 10,000 guns (1,500 on display)

1978 Springfield Armory National Historic Site opens

Springfield, MA 


1794-1968

  • Long-barreled muskets of 1795
  • Springfield Model 1816
  • M1861
  • Krag-Jorgenson
  • Erskine Allin’s M1873 Trapdoor
  • Bolt action 1903 Springfield
  • M1 Garand
  • M14
  • M60 machine gun
  • Firearms donated by Presidents:
    Kennedy, Eisenhower, Roosevelt, and Wilson
  • Many prototypes
  • Cutaway ‘skeletonized’ guns for instruction

  • 1777 George Washington approves the site & establishes the Arsenal
  • 1787 Shays’ Rebellion happens at the armory
  • 1794 First national armory began manufacturing muskets
    – 40 employees
    – produced a few hundred 1795 Flintlock Muskets each year
  • 1798 Watershops established on Mill River (to provide water power)
  • 1818 the first replicating machines
  • 1819 the first Blanchard Lathe
  • 1843 “The Arsenal at Springfield” poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  • 1862 Harpers Ferry armory is destroyed (Springfield is the only manufacturer)
  • 1892 Krag-Jorgensen rifle is adopted
  • 1903 Springfield M1903 rifle goes into service
  • 1919-1953 John Garand was employed at the Springfield Armory until his retirement
  • 1936 M1 Garand introduced (3.7 million produced)
  • 1940 Main Arsenal (the current museum) Building 104 is completed
    – for mass production of the M1 Garand
  • 1941 John Garand gets Meritorious Civilian Service Award
  • During World War II, over 14,000 workers
    many women were the WOW, Women Ordnance Workers
  • April 1968 Factory closes
  • 1974 Designated a National Historic Site
  • 1978 Springfield Armory National Historic Site opens
  • the world’s largest collection of historic American military firearms
  •  Year-round public programs, exhibits, and special events
  • Benton Small Arms Museum
  • Springfield Armory Historic Library
  • Armory Memorabilia Collection
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Museum entry is FREE.
Plenty of parking available.

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Springfield Armory National Historic Site
One Armory Square
Suite 2
Springfield, MA 01105

Phone: (413) 734-8551

https://www.nps.gov/spar/index.htm

https://bennicholson.com/guns/Springfield-Armory-Museum.html

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