Rock Island Arsenal, Building No. 1, Gillespie Avenue between Terrace Drive & Hedge Lane, Rock Island, Rock Island County, IL

Significance: After taking command of Rock Island Arsenal in 1865, General Thomas Jefferson Rodman devised a master plan for construction of ten large manufacturing shops, five on each side of the island's major east-west thoroughfare. These core manufacturing structures were supplemented by a variety of administrative, residential, maintenance, storage, and utility buildings. Although only a few buildings were erected prior to Rodman's death in 1871, subsequent construction under Rodman's nineteenth-century successors closely conformed to the original plan. Located on the island's north-central shore, the Commanding Officer's Quarters was one of the first building's erected under the Rodman plan. Designed by Rodman, it was completed in the fall of 1871, a few months after his death. The richly ornamented limestone structure is a superb example of Italianate architecture. In its scale and detailing, it symbolized the arsenal's importance as a major government installation and strongly influenced the design of three neighboring subaltern officer's quarters (see HABS Nos. IL-1001F, IL-1001G, IL 1001H). The building is part of the Rock Island Arsenal National Register Historic District.

Survey number: HABS IL-1001-E

Building/structure dates: 1871 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: ca. 1905 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: ca. 1957 Subsequent Work

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 69000057

arsenals officers quarters illinois rock island gillespie gillespie avenue terrace drive terrace drive hedge lane hedge lane rock island county historic american buildings survey thomas jefferson rodman rock island arsenal ultra high resolution high resolution ornament manufacturing plants manufacturing stairs stairways library of congress national register of historic places

1957

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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