August 1, 2008

August 1, 2008

Continuing south along the Vermont/New Hampshire border we follow the Connecticut River into Massachusetts stopping at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. The US government had its own gun factory on this site for 174 years. All the buildings still exist but most have been redeveloped for other uses. The main building now holds a museum to this enterprise. After watching the obligatory movie (pretty good). We look at the exhibits. One half is devoted to the technological development of the rifle from flintlock to percussion cap to breechloader to semiautomatic. Every type was made here over the years. The most famous were the 1903 Springfield (WWI) and the M-1 (WWII). The other half of the museum is devoted to arms manufacturing technology. Gunsmithing was one of the leading technologies of the 19th century and spurred the industrial revolution in the Connecticut River valley. On display is an original lathe invented here in the 1820’s that automatically duplicated wooden gunstocks.

From Springfield we head east towards Boston stopping in Brimfield, MA for the night.