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
Museum entry is FREE.
Plenty of parking available.
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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