New York's Historic Armories: An Illustrated History

About this book

Chronicles the evolution of the armory as a specific building type in American architectural and military history and the role these buildings played in the history of Americas volunteer militia. Winner of the 2007 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award presented by the Preservation League of New York State Winner of the 2007 Building Typology Award presented by the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America New Yorks Army National Guard armories are among the most imposing monuments to the role of the citizen soldier in American military history. In New Yorks Historic Armories Nancy L. Todd draws on archival research as well as historic and contemporary photographs and drawings to trace the evolution of the armory as a specific building type in American architectural and military history. The result of a ten-year collaboration between the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation and the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs this illustrated history presents information on all known armories in the state as well as the units associated with them and will serve as a valuable reference for readers interested in general military and architectural history. Built to house local units of the states volunteer militia armories served as arms storage facilities clubhouses for the militiamen and civic monuments symbolizing New Yorks determination to preserve domestic law and order through military might. Approximately 120 armories were built in New York State from the late eighteenth century to the middle of the twentieth and most date from the last quarter of the nineteenth century when the National Guard was Americas primary domestic peacekeeper during the postCivil War era of labor-capital unrest. Together New Yorks armories chronicle the history of the volunteer militia from its emergence during the early Republican Era through its heyday during the Gilded Age as the backbone of the American military system to its early twentieth-century role as the nations primary armed reserve force.