Springfield Armory National Historic Site - Springfield, MA - World War II Sites on Waymarking.com

Because of its strategic location on the Connecticut River, the Federal Arsenal at Springfield was established during the Revolutionary War on the recommendation of General Henry Knox. It produced small arms, repaired small arms, and made fuses, cartridges, wagons, and saddles. It also was the major location for the storage of gunpowder and other war materials.

After the war, in 1794, General Knox, now the Secretary of War, recommended to President Washington that the arsenal become the Nation's First National Armory.

In 1919, John Garand, at age 31, was employed by the Springfield Armory where he worked to develop a semi-automatic rifle. After several attempts he developed the world famous M1, or "Garand rifle". The army adopted the rifle in 1936 and production began in 1937. After World War II began the Springfield Armory made weapons for the U.S. Military, especially the M1 rifle which was the standard rifle used by U.S. Army and Marines. Production was greatly increased by hiring mostly women. The Springfield Armory eventually produced over 4.5 million M1 rifles.

The Armory continues to supply weapons during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War until it was closed in 1968. Several of the buildings were converted into a museum and others became part of the newly established Springfield Technical Community College. The museum preserves the one of the best examples of US military shoulder arms, pistols, machine guns, edged weapons, and production machinery.

Related Website: [Web Link] Supplementary Related Website: [Web Link] Admission Fee: 0 Opening Days/Times: Springfield Armory National Historic Site is open seven days a week from 9am to 5pm. It is closed on: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day

Visit Instructions:
Posting a picture(s) of the location would be nice although not required.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/25/2022 Don.Morfe visited it 09/01/2014 Lat34North visited it 10/07/2011 Facedances visited it

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