{"nrhp_refnum":"91001702","name":"Special Troops Armory","other_names":["Philadelphia Armory"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5350 Ogontz Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":40.03544724200003,"lon":-75.15105442099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-11-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Moderne-style armory building in the Wakefield area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, constructed in 1938 for the Philadelphia Special Troops of the Pennsylvania National Guard. A noncontributing cinder block organizational maintenance shop, built in 1950, stands behind it.","why_significant":"The armory is significant under criteria A and C as a member of the State Armory Building property type within the Pennsylvania National Guard Armories multiple property nomination. It is one of seventeen armories built in Pennsylvania in 1938 and reflects the common function of armories as storage, meeting, and training spaces for the state National Guard. Its I-plan layout, with a drill hall between front administrative and rear storage sections, is identified as a typical armory type.","narrative":"Built in 1938 in Philadelphia for the city's Special Troops of the Pennsylvania National Guard, the armory sits back from Ogontz Avenue on a flat lot near Wister Woods Park and Wakefield Park, fronted by a broad lawn. The brick main building is designed in the Moderne style on an I-plan, with a two-story front administrative wing, a drill hall that appears as two stories, and a one-story rear storage wing. Its features include a parapet with stone coping, sixteen-light casement windows, stone belt courses, and a recessed central entrance framed in stone. The drill hall has a wood floor and brick walls, and its roof supports are concealed by a drop ceiling. Special troops included medical units, engineering battalions, and cavalry troops. The armory is one of seventeen Pennsylvania armories built in 1938 and is significant as a representative example of the state's armory building type and its National Guard function. The rear maintenance shop is not counted toward significance.","period_of_significance":"1938-1939","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Moderne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.18822-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/91001702.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001702/edbfbd4c4a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001702/edbfbd4c4a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spec_Troops_Armory_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spec_Troops_Armory_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993821","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Troops_Armory","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7574758"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/special-troops-armory-91001702/"}