{"nrhp_refnum":"76000254","name":"State Armory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"29 Howard St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.09861354800006,"lon":-72.58607309699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick, granite and brownstone armory at 29 Howard Street in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, built in 1895 for the local volunteer militia and designed by Boston architects Robert Wait and Amos Cutting.","why_significant":"It was Springfield's first building erected for the local volunteer militia and is a fine example of the work of architects Wait and Cutting. Its towers dominate Howard Street. It also served as a venue for social events and as shelter during floods and fires.","narrative":"Rising above Howard Street in Springfield, this armory was completed in 1895 as the city's first building erected for the local volunteer militia. Boston architects Robert Wait and Amos Cutting designed it, with the Springfield firm Gardner, Pyne and Gardner supervising. The head house is built of granite blocks with brick and brownstone detail, arched windows and crenellated towers, the tallest reaching sixty feet. A brick drill shed with a slate roof on an iron frame is attached. In 1914-1915 both the head house and the drill shed were enlarged by half in depth in a consistent design. Western Massachusetts volunteers first marched out of the building for service in the Cuban campaign in 1898. The drill floor also hosted fairs, expositions and social events, and sheltered people left homeless by floods and fires. The building housed National Guard headquarters for western Massachusetts and was in use as a South End community center when it was listed.","period_of_significance":"1895","architect_builder":"Robert Wait and Amos Cutting (supervising architects: Gardner, Pyne and Gardner)","architectural_style":"Eclectic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied; serves as headquarters for National Guard units in western Massachusetts and as a community center for South End residents. Condition listed as good and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.516176-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/7953/63795303/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000254.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000254/c905467583-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000254/c905467583-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TM01001","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Armory_-_Springfield,_MA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TM01001</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Armory_-_Springfield,_MA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795303","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Armory_(Springfield,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7603026"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/state-armory-76000254/"}