Checking out the big guns at the Springfield Armory

Based on the schedule at the World Series, we would have 2 days free to explore since the games were at night. I made the perfect road trip to see all the sites in the area… Raven Hallow winery, Stanley Park park, the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden, the Titanic Museum, dinosaur footprints, and Eric Carle’s Museum of Picture Book Art. The hubby wasn’t very enthusiastic and kind of let it be figuring I could convince him when the time came.

When I arrived in Springfield, I noticed a sign for the Springfield Armory. I googled it and decided that it would be something the hubby would like. He agreed we should check it out.

The Springfield Armory was founded in 1794 when the US needed an armory in the northern states. The US Government made guns there through 1968. I never thought about how the military got their guns or where they were made… why would I? It’s not like they taught you about where the guns came from when you learned about the Civil War or World War I. I also didn’t know Springfield made guns… or that Westfield, MA makes whips. The Springfield Armory is now part of the National Park Service.

The Springfield Armory is on the grounds of Springfield Technical S. Because there was an event going on at the college, parking was tricky. They had people directing you in to park in the grassy field and then it was a short walk across the field to the Armory. We ended up walking all the way around the building trying to find the entrance. It wasn’t clearly marked.

Admission to the Armory is a free. A park ranger met us when we came in, explained how the armory was set up, and that a video was about to start soon telling about the Armory. We decided to start with the video. Inside the video room were the machine guns. The video was very informative. I learned how the guns were made, why Springfield was picked as the location of the armory, and who invented the machine to mechanize the making of the guns to output more guns.

After the video, we wandered the museum. There were guns throughout the years that were made at the Springfield Armory plus some foreign guns acquired in battle. The collection is amazing.

There is the machinery that was used to make the guns. You could actually push a button and make the machinery work.

One display tells about the fires that have occurred at the Armory.

There is also a Junior Ranger area where Junior Rangers can play dress up, make a paper gun, color, and do other activities as part of the Junior Ranger program.

Junior Ranger Activity.

I got my first stamp for my National Parks Passport that I still haven’t bought. Maybe I’ll just make a scrapbook type one that will have the stamp, room for the brochure and maybe a postcard.

My stamps

When I went to buy a postcard for my collection, the park ranger pointed out that fence in the picture as well as some of the fence surrounding the armory today was made from cannons and cannonballs that were used during the Revolutionary War. The government refused to spend the money to build a fence so someone thought about melting down old cannons/cannonballs at the local foundry to make the fence posts.

If you are ever in Springfield area, this is a worthwhile stop. The hubby wanted to know why we didn’t go here 6 years ago when we were at the Basketball Hall of Fame…probably because we didn’t have time. It was one of those things that wasn’t on my radar until I saw the sign for it. I’m glad we decided to go because the Armory was something we both enjoyed.