A map of Springfield and some of the Armory Watershops

Since its beginning in 1794, the United States Armory at Springfield has played an important role in the development of the city of Springfield. The site, now called Armory Hill, was first used during the American Revolution to store and repair guns. Later, about 1794, President Washington briefly considered relocating the Federal Armory across the Connecticut River to Agawam where there was a better water source for power. The farmers in the town resisted this unwelcomed change because they possessed some of the best farmland in the area and did not see the need to introduce manufacturing into their economy. They also did not want to share their community with rough-housing “mechanics”. The Federal Government chose not the push the issue and instead purchased the land in Springfield that they had been leasing since 1778.

Springfield was an attractive site not just because of the plentiful skilled labor found in the region but also because it was located on the young nation’s best highway from Boston to Philadelphia and on the Connecticut River. Located sixty miles up the river, the Armory site sat just north of river rapids making it secure from naval attack. The town of Springfield was also interested in manufacturing because of its poor farmland. The Federal Government purchased land for the Armory on top of a hill above Main Street and along the Mill River for the water-powered Watershops.

An aerial view of the Armory Watershops

When the Armory began producing muskets in 1795, the heavy work of forging metal and shaping wooden stocks took place at the Watershops and the lighter assembly work occurred at the Hill Shops. The Armory soon became the core of Springfield’s emerging industrial development. Not only did the Armory provide jobs for Springfield area residents, but it also worked closely with private manufacturers and merchants in the area. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Springfield had about 2500 inhabitants. About 100 of these men worked at the Hill Shops while others worked at forging and grinding mills located along the Mill River.

The War of 1812 attracted many more skilled and unskilled workmen to Springfield. When the war ended in 1815, the Armory laid off many workers leading to an economic depression and even more layoffs in 1817. This was the beginning of a cycle that would reoccur many times in Springfield. The vitality of the Armory directly impacted the economic health of Springfield.

The Upper Water Shops circa 1830s

By 1820, when the population had grown to 6,784, fifty-eight percent of Springfield’s working population was in manufacturing and the Armory was the town’s chief industry. Residential neighborhoods were located on Armory Hill, along the Mill River, and around Court Square by 1821. The population of Springfield grew rapidly after the first railroads linked it with Boston and Albany around 1840. By 1852, the population of Springfield had reached 12,000 when Massachusetts granted them a city charter.

Springfield Armory’s Superintendent, Major James Ripley, whose conflicts with Springfield’s residents is discussed in the previous section, had created an efficient factory between 1843 and 1854. By the Civil War, however, a crew of only barely two hundred men turned out small numbers of muskets. When the Civil War began, the Armory needed to quickly ramp up production. The workforce grew from 200 men to 2,600 men in a few years. During the war, a quarter of the city’s work force was assisting with arms production. The Civil War was a great boon to Springfield’s economy and its population increased as private manufacturers sprung up around the Armory.