Monthly Archives: April 2010

When the Main Arsenal at the Springfield Armory was completed in 1851, it was flanked by two houses, both built earlier: the Paymaster’s House, to the south, and the Master Armorer’s House, to the north. Both of these residences were relocated around 1880. The Paymaster’s House was eventually demolished, but the Master Armorer’s House has survived. It was relocated about 300 feet north of its original site and was rotated and placed on the opposite side of the street. The house was built in 1833, during the tenure of Lt. Col. Roswell Lee as superintendent of the Armory. It later served as an infirmary and as officers’ quarters. The building lost its rear section by the start of the twentieth century and was remodeled by the WPA in 1937.

Maj. James W. Ripley became superintendent of the Springfield Armory in 1841 and soon initiated an ambitious building program. The first structure to be completed was the Commanding Officer’s Quarters. He had demolished an earlier Commanding Officer‘s House on the site where the new Main Arsenal was to be built. To replace it, he constructed a fine new CO.’s residence, begun in 1845 and completed in 1847. There were many who opposed Ripley’s reforms of the Armory and he faced much controversy during his tenure. Some considered his new residence to be too extravagant. A series of investigations led to a military court of inquiry in which a major complaint was that he was wasting government funds, but Ripley was eventually exonerated. The house is now used as administrative offices for the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.