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27-475: Located on the site of the former Watertown Arsenal , predating the Civil War, New England Development opened the mall as Arsenal Marketplace in 1983. Original anchor stores included Marshalls and Ann & Hope. Ann & Hope closed in the early 2000s, and was replaced by Home Depot and (since closed) Linens 'n Things (replaced by Golfsmith). Simon Property Group purchased the center in 1999. The mall featured

54-671: A dramatic change before women’s suffrage was approved. Women were absolutely critical to the success of the US buildup in World War I, and played an integral role in production at Rock Island Arsenal. The Rock Island Arsenal Museum was established on July 4, 1905. It is the second-oldest US Army Museum in the US after the West Point Museum . The museum has been closed twice, during World War I and World War II , to provide more space for manufacturing facilities. Exhibits interpret

81-477: A guard post to control traffic on the Mississippi and maintain watch over the local Native Americans. Black Hawk wrote in his memoir: "When we arrived we found that the troops had come to build a fort on Rock Island...We did not object, however, to their building their fort on the island, but were very sorry, as this was the best one on the Mississippi, and had long been the resort of our young people during

108-736: A host of associated components. Some of the Arsenal's most successful products include the M198 and M119 towed howitzers , and the gun mount for the M1 Abrams , main battle tank for the Army since the 1980s. About 250 military personnel and 6,000 civilians are employed there. The population from the 2020 census was 182 people. From 1816-1862, the site was known as Fort Armstrong. Before that, successive cultures of Native Americans had occupied it for thousands of years because of its strategic position along

135-483: A north–south axis overlooking the river. Alexander Parris , later designer of Quincy Market , was architect. Buildings included a military store and arsenal, as well as shops and housing for officers and men. All were made of brick with slate roofs in the Federal style, and a high wall enclosed the compound. By 1819 all buildings were completed and occupied. The arsenal's site, duties, and buildings grew gradually until

162-588: A research nuclear reactor (Horace Hardy Lester Reactor) was constructed on site, for material research programs, and operated there until 1970. In 1968 the Army ceased operations at the arsenal; 45 acres (180,000 m ) were sold to the Watertown Redevelopment Authority, while the remaining 48 acres (190,000 m ) were converted to the United States Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center , renamed

189-693: Is located on Arsenal Island , originally known as Rock Island , on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa , and Rock Island, Illinois . It is home to the United States Army First Army Headquarters, and the United States Army Center of Excellence for Additive Manufacturing. Historically the indigenous Sauk Native Americans used Rock Island as their summer camp site. Encroaching European Americans coming into

216-688: Is managed by the Bozzuto Group and was developed by Boylston Properties. 42°21′42″N 71°09′25″W  /  42.36178°N 71.15699°W  / 42.36178; -71.15699 Watertown Arsenal The Watertown Arsenal was a major American arsenal located on the northern shore of the Charles River in Watertown, Massachusetts . The site is now registered on the ASCE 's List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks and on

243-494: The American Civil War , enlarging beyond the original quadrangle. During the war it greatly expanded to produce field and coastal gun carriages, and the war's impetus led to the quick construction of a large machine shop and smith shop built as contemporary factories, as well as a number of smaller buildings. During the Civil War, a new commander's quarters was commissioned by then-Capt. Thomas J. Rodman , inventor of

270-562: The Rodman gun . The lavish, 12,700 sq ft (1,180 m ), quarters would ultimately become one of the largest commander's quarters on any US military installation. This mansion is now on the National Register of Historic Places . The expense ($ 63,478.65) was considered wasteful and excessive and drew a stern rebuke from Congress, which then promoted Rodman to brigadier general and sent him to command Rock Island Arsenal on

297-585: The United States Materials Technology Laboratory in 1985. In 1995 all Army activity ceased and the remainder of the site was converted to civilian use. The Armory site was formerly included on US EPA's National Priorities List of highly contaminated sites, more widely known as Superfund . The site was removed from the NPL in 2006. Rock Island Arsenal The Rock Island Arsenal comprises 946 acres (383 ha) and

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324-755: The Mississippi River. The United States took control of the island in 1804 through the Harrison Peace Treaty with the Chief of the Fox and Sac Tribes. From 1804 to 1812 the US Army did not occupy the island. It was the scene of a small conflict at the outbreak of the War of 1812 with Great Britain. Following that war, in 1814 it was the site of a U.S. Army expedition from St Louis to use the island as

351-602: The US National Register of Historic Places , and it is home to a park, restaurants, mixed use office space, and formerly served as the national headquarters for athenahealth . The arsenal was established in 1816, on 40 acres (16 ha) of land, by the United States Army for the receipt, storage, and issuance of ordnance . In this role, it replaced the earlier Charlestown Arsenal . The arsenal's earliest plan incorporated 12 buildings aligned along

378-872: The Watertown Planning Board unanimously approved the plans. Two stores remained open throughout the duration of construction – Marshalls and the Home Depot . The first stores opened in late 2019, with Old Navy , Gap Outlet , and Chipotle , which were the last stores to be closed prior to renovation of the mall, being reopened. Shake Shack , Cinemaworld Majestic Cinema, and Ulta Beauty , among other stores, were opened afterward. A Hampton Inn hotel, Roche Bros. , and other stores and restaurants were opened in 2021. A residential community within Arsenal Yards, Blvd & Bond, opened in June 2021. It

405-516: The area disputed the claim of tribal ownership, and competition between the peoples led to the Black Hawk War of 1832. It was named for Black Hawk , the primary leader of the Sauk . In 1816 the federal government authorized the army to build Fort Armstrong here, to protect shipping on the river in the aftermath of the War of 1812 with Great Britain. Decades after the Civil War, in the 1880s

432-566: The area include the Confederate Cemetery, the Rock Island National Cemetery , 19th-century stone workshops, officers' quarters along the river, Col. Davenport's House, and the site of the first railroad bridge built across the Mississippi . Following the war, the federal government retained ownership of Arsenal Island. It developed it for use as an arsenal and ordnance manufacturing center, which led to

459-534: The army established a foundry and armory here, manufacturing both military equipment and ordnance. In 1919–1920 one hundred of the Anglo-American or Liberty Mark VIII tanks were manufactured there, although too late for World War I. The base is now the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States . In 1988 the Arsenal was designated a National Historic Landmark . At

486-505: The arsenal nearly tripled in size. Building #311 was then reported to be one of the largest steel-frame structures in the United States, sized to accommodate both very large gun carriages and the equipment used to construct them. Railroad tracks ran throughout the arsenal complex. World War II brought an additional 7 acres (28,000 m ) with existing industrial buildings, as the arsenal produced steel artillery pieces. In 1959–1960,

513-565: The earlier arsenal styles. In 1897 an additional 44 acres (180,000 m ) were purchased, and a hospital built. Scientific management as designed by arsenal commander Charles Brewster Wheeler was implemented between 1908 and 1915. It was considered by the War Department as successful in saving money over the alternatives; but it was so hated by the work force that the Congress eventually overturned its use. During World War I

540-629: The frontier in Illinois, where he built an even larger commander's quarters. Activities and new construction at the Watertown Arsenal continued to gradually expand until the early 1890s. Activities changed decisively in 1892 when Congress authorized modernization to gun carriage manufacturing. At this point the arsenal became a manufacturing complex rather than storage depot. A number of major buildings were constructed, which over time began to reflect typical industrial facilities rather than

567-560: The island being renamed. During the First World War, demand for war materials drastically increased; this increased the demand for skilled labor, but many men were drafted for the war. Women were hired to fill job vacancies at the arsenal. This is often referred to as the "women draft", as they had to backfill the men leaving to fight in order to keep satisfying the war demands from factory production. Rock Island Arsenal increased from having 175 female employees in 1914 to 300 in 1917,

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594-586: The only digital game clock (made by the Day Sign Company of Toronto, Canada) ever used at the Boston Garden (from 1969–70 until closure) in its food court. The mall was then purchased by developers Boylston Properties and The Wilder Companies in 2013 and renamed The Arsenal Project. In 2016, plans were introduced by Boylston Properties to redevelop the property into Arsenal Yards, a mixed-use neighborhood for residents and visitors. In January 2017,

621-431: The power of the Mississippi River. A total of 1,964 Confederate prisoners and 125 Union guards are buried in the adjacent military cemetery. The Union guard burials included 49 members of the 108th Regiment of United States Colored Troops , who had served as guards. Most of the men died from disease, since sanitation was primitive, as in all army encampments. In addition, they were exposed to high heat and humidity during

648-473: The summer. It was our garden, like the white people have near their big villages, which supplied us with strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries, plums, apples and nuts of different kinds." During the Civil War, the army converted some facilities and built more in 1863; these were not yet completed in December of that year, when the first Confederate prisoners of war were incarcerated there. The construction

675-415: The summers and freezing temperatures during winters. In 1864, deadly smallpox epidemics rapidly spread through the prison. The prison camp operated from December 1863 until July 1865, when the last prisoners were freed. After the war, the prison facility was completely destroyed. During its two years in operation, the prison camp housed a total of more than 12,400 Confederates. Other historical sites in

702-609: The turn of the 20th century, it manufactured both ordnance and leather accoutrements and field gear, for an army that still relied on horses for transportation and cavalry. Today it provides manufacturing , logistics , and base support services for the United States Armed Forces . The Arsenal is the only active U.S. Army foundry, and manufactures ordnance and equipment, including artillery , gun mounts , recoil mechanisms , small arms , aircraft weapons sub-systems, grenade launchers , weapons simulators , and

729-418: Was makeshift. The first prisoners were 468 Confederates captured in battles at Chattanooga, Tennessee . That month more than 5,000 Confederates would swell the population of Rock Island military prison. They were kept in 84 barracks, each holding around 100 prisoners. A total of 41 Confederate prisoners successfully escaped during the prison's operation, and many more would try but fail. They were deterred by

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