{"nrhp_refnum":"69000057","name":"Rock Island Arsenal","other_names":["Rock Island Arsenal Rodman Plan--Old Stone Buildings","Arsenal"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Rock Island in Mississippi River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rock Island","county":"Rock Island County","state":"IL","lat":41.51632629450006,"lon":-90.54943238395069,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-09-30","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1988-06-07","areas_of_significance":["Industry","Prehistoric","Historic - Aboriginal","Military","Engineering","Transportation","Exploration/Settlement","Science","Invention"],"significance_levels":["national","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Rock Island Arsenal is a 945-acre federal military installation on Rock Island in the Mississippi River at Rock Island, Illinois, established by Congress in 1862. It contains stone shops, officers' quarters, a clock tower and later industrial buildings.","why_significant":"The nomination points to the island's long role in westward expansion and military history, including Fort Armstrong, the Black Hawk War, a Civil War Confederate prison and the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi. It also cites the arsenal's 1860s-70s stone shops and officers' homes, the work of commander Thomas J. Rodman, and its service in wars since 1898.","narrative":"Rock Island Arsenal occupies a three-mile-long island in the Mississippi River between Rock Island and Moline, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. Congress established it in 1862, and it still operates as a military installation covering 945 acres. Its core includes ten massive limestone shops built from 1866 to 1876, with walls up to three feet thick and cast-iron columns, plus a Clock Tower from the 1860s and large stone officers' quarters built in the 1870s along the north shore. Later World War I and II buildings, mostly concrete, extend to the west. The island's history reaches further back. Fort Armstrong stood here from 1816 to 1836, soldiers in the Black Hawk War passed through, and George Davenport built an early permanent house in 1833. A Confederate prison operated from 1863 to 1865, and a cemetery remains. The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi had a terminal on the island. Commander Thomas J. Rodman, known for the Rodman Gun, led the arsenal from 1863 to 1871.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"W. O. Groehnen, probably the Arsenal's architect (called a \"delineator\"), is credited with the stone bridge on the golf course; the form names no other architect.","architectural_style":"Not named; the 1877 commanding officer said no name could be given to the Clock Tower's exterior. Buildings are mainly stone, with later concrete structures.","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in fair condition and altered, still occupied and in government, industrial, military and museum use. The Rodman Shops and 1870s officers' homes remain in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.57686-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/55/8939/28893955/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/69000057.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000057/096564e68c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000057/096564e68c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Robert A, Ryan, J. Ceronia, and Bruce A. Harms, Photographers","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rock_Island_Arsenal,_Building_No._1,_Gillespie_Avenue_between_Terrace_Drive_%26_Hedge_Lane,_Rock_Island,(_Rock_Island_County,_Illinois).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert A, Ryan, J. Ceronia, and Bruce A. Harms, Photographers</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rock_Island_Arsenal,_Building_No._1,_Gillespie_Avenue_between_Terrace_Drive_%26_Hedge_Lane,_Rock_Island,(_Rock_Island_County,_Illinois).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893955","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Island_Arsenal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4396797"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/rock-island-county/rock-island-arsenal-69000057/"}