Klamath County Armory and Auditorium - Klamath Falls, OR - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The following verbiage is taken from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form to describe this former armory's significance to Klamath County:

The Klamath County Armory and Auditorium is eligible for the National Register under National Register Criterion A and Criterion Consideration G for its significant association with military activities and important role in providing space for recreation and entertainment in Klamath Falls and greater county. In her thesis, "History of the 1935 Klamath County Armory," Sheilah DeBlander describes how "after the dedication, the armory became the hub of [the] growing community" of Klamath Falls. It was completed in 1935 using $45,000 from city bonds, county funds of $49,000 and a grant from the Public Works Administration of $30,700. Military historian Warren W. Aney notes that "by 1935 the Klamath Falls unit had a large, new armory, constructed by joint efforts of the city and county. This was somewhat unique, since almost all of the other armories in Oregon were state-built or rented from private owners (the Portland Armory was the only other city-county built armory). Although the city of Klamath Falls and Klamath County were united in their desire to build an armory, the inability of the State of Oregon to provide any funds for the armory made the grant from the Public Works Administration the final necessary ingredient for this project to proceed. The Klamath County Armory and Auditorium was identified as Public Works Project No. 1825.

The military role of the Klamath County Armory was the primary justification for it being built. After World War I, the United States government was aware of the need for a trained body of soldiers to be on call and strongly supported the idea of the citizen-soldier: the National Guard. After the local National Guard unit, Battery D of the 249th Coast Artillery, was established in Klamath Falls 1927, they met and drilled in a frame building that was inadequate for their needs, especially for securely housing their weapons, specifically the artillery pieces. Battery D quickly established a reputation as a "crack unit," by repeatedly winning awards for marksmanship and perfect attendance. It was the opinion of the city of Klamath Falls and Klamath County that "their boys" both needed and deserved an armory. At this time, there were no National Guard armories on the east side of Oregon.

From 1935 through World War II and into the 1950s, the Klamath County Armory and Auditorium was the home of Oregon National Guard's 249th Coast Artillery. It was a community center where local children played basketball and clubs met for meeting and luncheons. It was also an auditorium for public entertainment such as big band and western dances and shows, boxing and wrestling matches, circuses, amateur and professional performances, and large public meetings, such as the drawing for local homesteads by World War II veterans. Commercial expositions and automobile and agricultural shows were held in the building, the largest venue in the city. Bench seating in the balconies on three sides of the hall and hundreds of chairs for the main floor made it possible for the Armory and Auditorium to accommodate audiences that at times numbered nearly 3,000.

When the National Guard moved to Kingsley Field in 1952, the building continued as the Klamath Auditorium, still serving as a venue for concerts, gatherings, and social other social events. As television assumed the role of mass entertainment however, the use of the building decreased, and in 1969 the building was converted to the Klamath County Museum with only a few modifications to the exterior and interior of the building. Forty years later, however, clubs still meet in the building. Classes are still taught and banquets still eaten in the Instruction Hall/Banquet Room. Concerts and lectures continue as museum activities. The Armory is not only the place that houses the history of Klamath County, it is where much of that history actually took place.

The Klamath County Armory and Auditorium is also eligible for the National Register under National Register Criterion C for its Classical Moderne styling of Art Deco architecture in Klamath Falls. It was designed by local architect, Howard R. Perrin, and constructed by former Klamath Falls contractor, Edward P. Brosterhous of Bend. Classical Moderne traits exhibited in the exterior of the Armory and Auditorium includes emphasis on the vertical with tall windows and engaged columns on an otherwise boxy, rectilinear shape. It is capped with a montage of rooflines. A quietly polychromatic exterior is accomplished by using several different colors of brick with cream-colored wooden and metal trim. Nonstructural decorative elements include a stylized fan motif in the ornamental metal spandrels and cast-stone stylized eagles above and helmeted soldier figures astride both main entrances. Stylistics characteristics in the interior include a stylized painted floral ceiling in the lobby and a cutout design in the tops of the interior lobby doors and in the walls abive the windows that mimics the top of the stylized fan motif of the spandrels.

There were many famous musical acts that performed at the Armory back in the day. The NRHP Nomination Form goes on to highlight this and reads:

In addition, circuses could be accommodated in the Armory and Auditorium. Floors built to support artillery had no problems with elephants. Big was in and big was in the Armory. Automobile shows, tractor expositions, agricultural shows of all kinds were set in the Armory. And in the era of Big Bands, the Klamath County Armory and Auditorium was the place in southern Oregon to see the big name performers. Once Duke Ellignton played there, its reputation was made. Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Leighton Noble and his grand orchestra, Paul Whiteman, famed "King of Jazz," George Kaye and His Orchestra, and, Lawrence Welk, with his "Champagne Music," and lots more all played in the Armory. Many western entertainers and musicians were popular too with Tex Williams, Wesley Tuttle, Sons of the Pioneers, Maddox Brothers and Rose, Lefty Frizzell and the great Hank Thompson coming to Klamath Falls with their music and shows. Even B. B. King, the King of the Blues, played at the Klamath County Armory and Auditorium!

County / Borough / Parish: Klamath County Year listed: 2011 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Military; Recreation Periods of significance: 1935-1952 Historic function: Military; Recreation Current function: Historical Archives Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Street address: Not listed Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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