I pass it all the time, as I walk around the neighborhood. Especially if I am tempted to have an ice cream at PJ's. :-)
It is the Oswego YMCA and I look at it and its commanding view of the Oswego River and think to myself that this building used to BE something important. It does mention that it used to be an Armory, which for those who don't know, is a place where guns and munitions were and are stored. But I felt there was more.
Look at that castle like tower with the two colors of bricks...it feels like it had places for gunners to take position to shoot, if attacked. So I went looking around the Internet.
I found this old photo of the Oswego Armory. Now, it doesn't prove anything...but I think I am right. Those little cut outs were not placed on that tower for nothing? Right? Right?
It's really nice to see what it was like in the old days, before it was sanitized for the YMCA to use.
I really don't remember much about the place, because I didn't walk down this street, when I lived here before. But it really has history and character attached to it. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
The architecture is pretty standard, I think. Here's a shot of the Armory in Glens Falls: https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!q=Glens+Falls&data=!1m8!1m3!1d3!2d-73.63606!3d43.310503!2m2!1f144.97!2f88.84!4f90!2m4!1e1!2m2!1s7ONsL07aCmuYIM_SUgI-7w!2e0!4m29!2m16!1m14!1s0x89dfcf0d10ae2943%3A0x24ac9d702f124365!3m8!1m3!1d387103!2d-73.397574!3d43.550285!3m2!1i1280!2i800!4f13.1!4m2!3d43.3094409!4d-73.644104!5e1!6sglens+falls+ny+armory!5m11!1m10!1sglens+falls+ny+armory!4m8!1m3!1d193361!2d-73.679876!3d43.3682315!3m2!1i1280!2i800!4f13.1&fid=5
ReplyDeleteWikipedia tells me that "In the United States today, the term "armory" may refer to the building from which a National Guard or Reserve component trains during peacetime."
Here's an article from 2010 about the GF armory: http://poststar.com/news/local/finch-paper-buys-glens-falls-armory-building/article_c190d4f2-4d58-11df-8e58-001cc4c03286.html
While we're at it, here's another: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Regiment_Armory,_Brooklyn
Ed "Shoulder Arms" Greenberg
Thank you so much, Ed. :-)
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