The Seventh Regiment Armory, also known as Park Avenue Armory, is a historic
National Guard
National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
Nat ...
armory
Armory or armoury may mean:
* An arsenal, a military or civilian location for the storage of arms and ammunition
Places
*National Guard Armory, in the United States and Canada, a training place for National Guard or other part-time or regular mili ...
building located at 643
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...
in the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
neighborhood of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The building is a brick and stone structure built in 1880 and designed in the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style by Charles Clinton.
The building was made a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1986.
[ National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination, undated, by Carolyn Pitts][ National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination]
Design
The building was designed by
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Charles Clinton in the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style and dedicated in 1880. The builder was R. L. Darragh and bricklayers were Van Dolson & Arnott. It is one of the two remaining
armories in the United States to be built and furnished with private funds. It originally served as the headquarters and administrative building for the
7th New York Militia
The 7th Regiment of the New York Militia, aka the "Silk Stocking" regiment, was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Also known as the "Blue-Bloods" due to the disproportionate number of its members who were part o ...
Regiment, known as the ''Silk Stocking Regiment'' due to the disproportionate number of its members who were part of the city's social elite. The building is known for detailed interior rooms that are furnished with
ornamental woodwork, marble and stained glass.
![7th Reg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/7th_Reg._Armory_1st_Floor_Veterans_%28Tiffany%29_Room_HABS_NY%2C31-NEYO%2C121-21.jpg)
The main facade of the administration building faces Park Avenue between
66th & 67th Streets, with the large vaulted space for the
drill hall
A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills.
Description
In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...
in the center of the block. The administration building has provisions for a reception room, a library, veterans room and staff offices for ten regimental companies. Architects and interior designers of the American Aesthetic Movement were commissioned to furnish the rooms and company quarters. The library is known as the Silver Room or "Trophy Room" and was designed by
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...
who worked with architect
Stanford White
Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in additio ...
as a consultant on the project. The masterpiece of the armory building is the Veterans Room, also known as the Tiffany Room, with hand carved wood
panelling
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
and
coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...
ed ceiling in the Viking Revival style. Other significant craftsmen with work in the building include
Kimbel and Cabus
Kimbel & Cabus was a Victorian-era furniture and decorative arts firm based in New York City. The partnership was formed in 1862 between German-born cabinetmaker Anthony Kimbel (c. 1821–1895) and French-born cabinetmaker Joseph Cabus (1824&nd ...
,
Alexander Roux
Alexander Roux (1813–1886) was a French-trained ''ébéniste'', or cabinetmaker, who emigrated to the United States in the 1830s. He opened a shop in New York City in 1837. The business grew quickly: by the 1850s he employed 120 craftsmen in his ...
,
Francis Davis Millet
Francis Davis Millet (November 3, 1848. – April 15, 1912) was an American academic classical painter, sculptor, and writer who died in the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' on April 15, 1912.
Early life
Francis Davis Millet was born in Mattapo ...
, and the
Herter Brothers Herter is a German occupational surname for a herdsman. Notable people with the surname include:
* Albert Herter (1871–1950), American painter; son of Christian, the furniture maker
* Christian Herter (1895–1966), American politician; son o ...
.
Use
Former
Due to its acoustic properties, the building was used for the historic live broadcast of the radio play ''
The Fall of the City
''The Fall of the City'' by Archibald MacLeish is the first American verse play written for radio.Louis Untermeyer, "New Power for Poetry," ''Saturday Review of Literature'', May 22, 1937, p. 7.Wolfe Kaufman, (untitled article), ''Variety'', Ap ...
'' by
Archibald MacLeish in 1937. From 1900 until 1963 the venue hosted the
U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships
The U.S. National Indoor Championships was a tennis tournament that was last held at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The event was played on indoor hard courts and usually took place in February. For much of i ...
.
Current
The Armory is currently leased by and home to
Park Avenue Armory
__NOTOC__
The Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, generally known as Park Avenue Armory, is a nonprofit cultural institution within the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building located at 643 Park Avenue on New York City's Upper East Side. The inst ...
, a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to revitalize the landmark as an alternative arts space.
Other organizations using the space include:
* The 53rd Digital Liaison Detachment of the
New York Army National Guard
The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximat ...
, a unit carrying on the heritage of the 7th Regiment.
* The Veterans of the 7th Regiment
* The
Veteran Corps of Artillery (VCA), a ceremonial unit which was organized on November 25, 1790 (
Evacuation Day) by American Revolutionary War Veterans.
* The Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Women's Mental Health Shelter
Park Avenue Armory has a partnership with
Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design, a 9-12 college preparatory school in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the s ...
.
See also
*
Champagne Unit
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City
*
*
*
*
Squadron A Armory
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1880 establishments in New York (state)
Armories in New York City
Armories on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Gothic Revival architecture in New York City
Government buildings completed in 1880
Historic American Buildings Survey in New York City
Installations of the United States Army National Guard
Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City interior landmarks
Park Avenue