Lancaster Armory

Built in two stages in Lancaster, the armory combines a drill hall finished in 1928 with a three-story administrative block completed in 1937, arranged in a T plan. The brick building has a parapet with stone coping, a corbeled cornice, and sixteen-light tilt-out casement windows. Its front entrance is a projecting brick vestibule with a stone pediment and pilasters, and glass and aluminum doors were added in 1964. Inside, the administrative section holds a kitchen, reception room, offices, classrooms, and a rifle range in the basement, while the drill hall has brick walls, a wood floor, and steel arch trusses. A 65 by 20 foot classroom was added to the rear of the drill hall in 1971. The property is important because it represents the armories the Pennsylvania National Guard used for training and organization, and because its T-plan design is typical of such buildings. Philip H. Johnson designed the drill hall, and H.C. Hodgens and A.D. Hill of Philadelphia designed the administrative section. The armory retains its original windows and most of its original doors and woodwork.