{"id":7487,"date":"2015-11-29T19:18:59","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T19:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/?page_id=206"},"modified":"2015-11-29T19:18:59","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T19:18:59","slug":"edmond-armory-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/edmond-armory-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmond Armory History"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"membership-box\"<\/a>Step\u00a0through the front door of the Edmond History Museum & Museum\u00a0and immediately enter our community\u2019s history. This building was\u00a0constructed in 1936, built as the Armory of the 179th Infantry, 45th\u00a0Division of the Oklahoma National Guard. This historic, native sandstone\u00a0building was built by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.).<\/p>\n

The Works Progress Administration was created in May 1935 during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was designed as a means to provide meaningful employment to those workers, mostly unskilled laborers, who were without jobs as a result of the economic depression of the 1930s.<\/p>\n

After the War, the building served as a roller skating rink, community center, Edmond All Sports Offices, Parks and Recreation City Offices, meeting hall, and home to multiple local arts programs before it became the\u00a0Historical Society & Museum in 1983.<\/p>\n

\"EdmondArmoryConst\"<\/a>

The Edmond Armory under construction in 1935.<\/p><\/div>\n

The building has undergone some alterations to its original interior to accommodate its function as a Museum, but the changes have not compromised the historic and architectural integrity of the original building. The original architect was Colonel Bryan W. Nolan.<\/p>\n

The Edmond Armory Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, entered into the National Register March 14, 1991.<\/p>\n

\"1997.33\"<\/a>

The 179th Infantry outside the Armory, 5th & Boulevard.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Roller<\/a>

Edmond Sun Advertisement, 1950.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"1997.76.05.cropped\"<\/a>

Troops at Work in Armory.<\/p><\/div>\n

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places<\/a><\/p>\n

Edmond Armory History In Depth<\/h1>\n

\u201cA Good Spring\u201d<\/h2>\n

The land that later would house the Edmond Armory has a\u00a0history of significance leading back to the years it was being mapped by the\u00a0railroad. In January, 1886, a party of fifteen surveyors under civil engineer\u00a0J.D. Wirt left Arkansas City to survey a new route from there to Gainesville,\u00a0Texas. It was between mile markers 102 and 103 out of Arkansas City that the surveyors noted the area had a \u201cgood spring.\u201d This spring site was located at\u00a0approximately Fourth Street and Littler, the northwest corner of Stephenson Park.<\/p>\n

First Edmond Resident Disputes Claim<\/h2>\n

Colonel Eddy B. Townsend, Hardy C. Anglea and J. Wheeler\u00a0Turner made the run into Edmond April 21, 1889 on foam-lathered horses. These\u00a0town founders had been living and working in Indian Territory prior to the run.\u00a0They all made the run from the west line of Kickapoo Indian Reservation, 15 miles\u00a0east of Edmond on horseback. It was Eddy Baldwin Townsend that claimed the\u00a0northeast quarter of Section 35, building his home just west of the Santa Fe\u00a0Station. Townsend\u2019s claim included the\u00a0quarter section of land on which the Armory was eventually built. The day\u00a0of the Land Run the claim was immediately at the center of a legal dispute\u00a0because Alexander Smith, a section hand for the Santa Fe Railroad in Edmond had driven stakes into that very same claim. In December of 1889, the General Land\u00a0Office in Washington reversed the local land office decision in the case and\u00a0Townsend prevailed. Smith, the railroad section hand had ignored the notice that railroad employees wishing to claim land would have to leave the Oklahoma District. Townsend eventually gave this tract of land to the City of Edmond in\u00a01892, calling it at the time \u201cSouth Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0The W.P.A. Armories<\/h2>\n

Approved as a\u00a0nationwide project in September 1935, through the efforts of Oklahoma National\u00a0Guard Commander Gen. William S. Key, the Armory program began in earnest in the\u00a0last two months of 1935.<\/p>\n

Built under the watch of Oklahoma Governor Ernest W. Marland\u00a0from 1935 to 1939 who ran on an election platform to bring his \u201cLittle New\u00a0Deal\u201d to Oklahoma. Although the 15th Oklahoma legislature was not\u00a0receptive to the \u201cNew Deal,\u201d introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt to put\u00a0Americans back to work, the Edmond Armory was begun in November 1935 and\u00a0completed in 1936 at a cost of $39,501. At the time in Oklahoma, 90,000 workers\u00a0were employed building a total of 1,300 Works Progress Administration projects,\u00a0which included the Edmond Armory. Bryan\u00a0Nolen served with the 45th as an architect, and was assigned by\u00a0Key to design a number of National Guard Armories throughout the state. He\u00a0oversaw the design and build of 35 armories in the state, in addition to\u00a0Edmond. A batallion commander in World War II, Nolen led the 180th Regiment of Thunderbirds into combat\u00a0during the invasion of Sicily. He later commanded leadership and combat schools in Italy and North Africa. Also instrumental in the organization of the Oklahoma Nation Guard, he had helped the Howitzer Company of the 180th Infantry Regiment as early as 1921. Nolen was highly decorated, attaining the rank of\u00a0Colonel.<\/p>\n

The Edmond Armory was one of 59 armories originally planned\u00a0in the State of Oklahoma. The Edmond Armory was constructed for military\u00a0purposes, including arms storage and staging. The building was placed on the\u00a0northwest corner of the intersection of Fifth and Boulevard in the original\u00a0township of Edmond. The Armory architecture follows a 1930s public building\u00a0with depression style \u201cmodern\u201d architecture using native red sandstone similar\u00a0to the 1890s U.C.O. Normal School building. The Edmond Armory was built using a\u00a0blueprint for the \u201cOne Unit Artillery,\u201d\u00a0according to the State of Oklahoma Military Department, identical in design to\u00a0armories around the state including Duncan, Sulphur, Haskell, and Claremore. The\u00a0Armory featured a large vaulted ceiling drill hall, a target range , offices,\u00a0barracks, arms storage, stage, and garage.<\/p>\n

The 179th Infantry<\/h2>\n

The Edmond Armory became the headquarters for the 179th Infantry\u00a0regiment of the 45th division of the National Guard until 1972. The\u00a045th Infantry Division mobilized in the Edmond Armory for World War\u00a0II on September 16, 1940. That Division served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Central Europe. In 1950 it was called to serve in Korea. The National Guard built a new facility on Bryant and\u00a0the Armory was turned back for City use in 1972.<\/p>\n

Roller Skating in the\u00a0Drill Hall<\/h2>\n

When Lowell Thompson was the local commander of the Armory,\u00a0he came up with the idea of creating a public skating rink in the large vaulted\u00a0ceiling \u201cdrill hall\u201d (today is the Main Gallery of the Museum). On weekends,\u00a0the Guard would put up heavy wooden barricades around the perimeter of the\u00a0drill hall and allowed Edmond residents to rent skates. The newspaper advertisement for “LeGate Roller Rink” reveals that the Armory was serving the community with choices of recreation at the Armory in the fifties.<\/p>\n

Who is Fred M.\u00a0Stephenson?<\/h2>\n

Stephenson Park was named in 1934 by the City Council for then\u00a0City Manager Fred M. Stephenson for his service to the City. Formerly known as \u201cSouth\u00a0Park,\u201d the newly refurbished Stephenson Park of the thirties boasted of tennis and croquet courts, an\u00a0elaborate rock garden in the ravine and the planting of trees and shrubs in 1934. The\u00a0rock northwest wall entrance to the park was also a W.P.A. project built in\u00a01934.<\/p>\n

A Letter from 1935<\/h2>\n

The Armory was briefly put up for sale in 1972, but thanks to C.H. Spearman, Jr., the\u00a0offer was withdrawn when Edmond officials revealed they had a letter dated and\u00a0signed in 1935 from then state Adjutant General Charles F. Barrett stating that\u00a0the armory would be returned to the City of Edmond if the guard ceased to use\u00a0it.<\/p>\n

Edmond All Sports<\/h2>\n

Then Mayor Fred Snyder deemed that the city would allow the\u00a0Armory to be used primary by the Edmond All Sports Association for their\u00a0recreation programs for storage and meeting rooms. In 1972, the property was\u00a0legally transferred at the request of Governor David Hall, to the City of\u00a0Edmond.<\/p>\n

The Arts\/Edmond\u00a0Historic Community Center<\/h2>\n

In 1983, the city leased the building to the Edmond Historic\u00a0Preservation Trust with the support of the City Council for renovation. The\u00a0renovation was completed in time for the observance of the 1989 Edmond Oklahoma\u00a0Centennial festivities. By 1983, the Trust had converted the Armory into the \u201cEdmond\u00a0Historic Community Center.\u201d The center\u2019s purpose was to serve the community by\u00a0offering a venue for civic meetings, family reunions and birthday parties.\u00a0Long-term tenants of the building included the Edmond Historical Museum, the\u00a0Edmond Arts and Humanities Council, Contemporary dance groups and Oklahoma\u00a0Shakespeare in the Park.<\/p>\n

Edmond Historical Museum Started in one Room<\/h2>\n

The Edmond Historical Museum first occupied the single room\u00a0which today houses the Research & Genealogy Library. As the City of Edmond\u00a0grew and new buildings were renovated and constructed for their use, the Museum\u00a0eventually was granted use of the entire building. The large vaulted room,\u00a0originally designed for artillery training has evolved to become the Main\u00a0Gallery of the Museum. What were originally barracks, offices and storage areas\u00a0now comprise the Museum\u2019s administrative offices and research libraries.\u00a0Storage areas that once held artillery, now are the vaults for the collection\u00a0of historic artifacts that tell the story of the history of Edmond.<\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/h2>\n

Baird, David, \u201cEdmond Armory,\u201d Historic Preservation Survey Inventory, prepared July 28, 1987.<\/p>\n

Belote, Pam Terry, United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, prepared December 4, 1989.<\/p>\n

Crowder, James L., Historic Edmond: an Illustrated History, Lammert Publications, Inc., San Antonio, Texas, 2000.<\/p>\n

Edmond Booster, Armory Returns Home to Stay, February 10, 1972.<\/p>\n

Edmond Sun, Last Muster is Met by Colonel Bryan W. Nolen, October 27, 1959.<\/p>\n

Edmond Sun, Money Allotted for Edmond Armory, October 3, 1935.<\/p>\n

Edmond Sun, Work Stated On New Armory to be Built Here, November 14, 1935.<\/p>\n

Edmond Sun, Historic Trust Completes Armory Remodeling, 1989.<\/p>\n

Jones, Linda J., Edmond Historical Museum Rich with History, Edmond Life and Leisure, August 24, 2000.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma Historical Society Oklahoma Encyclopedia of History and Culture<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Step\u00a0through the front door of the Edmond History Museum & Museum\u00a0and immediately enter our community\u2019s history. This building was\u00a0constructed in 1936, built as the Armory of the 179th Infantry, 45th\u00a0Division […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edmondhistory.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}