Virginia Manufactory of Arms

Virginia appropriated funds in January 1860 to modernize the Virginia Manufactory with arms-making machinery manufactured in England; but the confrontation at Fort Sumter initiated the Union blockade which prevented delivery of the machinery.

In 1861, the Confederacy captured the Union-held town of Harper's Ferry in northern Virginia, and salvaged the machinery used to manufacture Springfield Model 1855 muskets.

Production of Richmond rifles began in October 1861 and continued until the supply of wooden stocks was exhausted in January 1865.

The rolling mills survived destruction, and became part of the Tredegar Iron Works after the war.

Portions of the main arsenal building survived in ruins into the late 19th century, until finally being demolished in 1900.