Clermont Avenue, east side, between Myrtle and Willoughby Avenues, viewing south from the former and showing the 52nd Field Artillery Armory, also known as the 105th Regiment Field Armory, 1925. Built in 1873, the William Mundell-designed Clermont Armory was, at the time, the largest hall without pillars or obstructions in the United States. Mundell’s ornate Second Empire facade was rebuilt in comparatively bland "Neo-Medieval" style in 1911, the 23rd regiment having relocated to a new and larger armory at Bedford and Atlantic Avenues in 1895. When the National Guard left in 1964, the Clermont Armory became a storage facility for the Department of Sanitation, falling out of use after 1989. The building has since been redeveloped for residential use.

“The rear of the \[Clermont Avenue] armory on the west side of Vanderbilt Avenue, looking toward Myrtle Avenue, 1925.”

This is an abbreviated version of Brooklynology blog post, the rest is available at this link. Walking the urban landscape of New York, one comes upon buildings of different styles and periods—one of the great joys of living in an older city. Even in this wildly varied landscape, the armories stand out. One can walk down a row of modest apartment houses and, turning the corner, confront one of these massive structures looming like an apparition from the middle ages. But how did they come to be here and how did their use change, particularly their transformation from military to civilian uses. What follows is not comprehensive documentation, but a selective jaunt through the evolution of our Brooklyn armories.

This is part of Urban Archive's "Arms and Armories: Fort Week," a series that features a week of stories about the military installations that once defended the city. When we look at the remains of forts and armories around the city today, it might now seem strange to imagine ships arriving in New York Harbor and seizing the city. Well, that's exactly what the British did in August of 1664 and July of 1776. This set of military installations were built during the last three hundred years to gird New York with defenses that ensured the protection of America's financial hub.