[3] Famous first as the United States' primary arsenal during the American Revolutionary War, and then as the scene of a confrontation during Shays' Rebellion, the Springfield Armory in the 19th and 20th centuries became the site of numerous technological innovations of global importance, including interchangeable parts, the assembly line style of mass production, and modern business practices, such as hourly wages.

The facility would play a decisive role in the American Civil War, producing most of the weaponry used by Union troops which, in sum, outpaced Confederate firearm production by a ratio of 32 to 1.

In 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, George Washington scouted and approved the site of the Springfield Armory, after it was referred to him by General Henry Knox, his artillery chief.

Additionally, Springfield is located just north of the Connecticut River's first waterfall (Enfield Falls), which is too steep to be navigated by ocean-going vessels.

[7] In 1786 and 1787, American Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led an armed, populist uprising that attempted to overthrow the Government of Massachusetts.

[8] On January 25, 1787, thousands of Shays' Regulators marched on the Springfield Armory, hoping to seize its weaponry and force a change of government.

[8] During the debates over the U.S. Constitution, in encouraging a stronger Federal government, James Madison cautioned the attendees that "the rebellion in Massachusetts is a warning, gentlemen.

"[8] In 1793, the National Arsenal contained brass ordnance, howitzers, traveling carriages, shot strapt, canisters filled, quilted grape, iron shot, shells, powder, musket ball, cylinders, caps, paper cartridges, fuzes filled, muskets, swords, various military stores, and implements.

Mass production of truly interchangeable parts demanded greater use of machines, improved gauging, quality control, and division of labor; all characteristics of the Industrial Revolution.

Colonel Roswell Lee, hired as superintendent in 1815, brought centralized authority, cost accounting for payroll, time, and materials, and increased discipline to a manufacturing environment—all business practices still in use today.

"[11] The anti-war poem described the rows of finished guns, by that point 1,000,000 stockpiled there, stored vertically in open racks: "Like a huge organ, rise the burnished arms.

American historian Merritt Roe Smith has drawn comparisons between the early assembly machining of the Springfield rifles and the later production of the Ford Model T, with the latter having considerably more parts, but producing a similar numbers of units in the earliest years of the 1913–1915 automobile assembly line, indirectly due to mass production manufacturing advancements pioneered by the armory 50 years earlier.

Unable to find funding for the purchase of a fence, Major James W. Ripley requested obsolete cannons from government storage, some from the Revolutionary War.

The foundry kept some of the iron as payment, and the remainder was cast into 9-foot palings, formed as pikes and spearheads which were then sunk into a red sandstone base.

During the Spanish–American War, it was recognized that the Spanish Mauser Model 1893, exhibited characteristics superior to the "trapdoor" Springfield and Krag–Jørgensen rifles carried by the United States troops.

General Douglas MacArthur reported on the M1 to the Ordnance Department during heavy fighting on Bataan that "Under combat conditions it operated with no mechanical defects and when used in foxholes did not develop stoppages from dust or dirt.

"[14] Further testament to the M1s role in combat was given by another well-respected military officer, General George S. Patton, Jr., who reported to the Army Ordnance Department on January 26, 1945, "In my opinion, the M1 Rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised.

By the time the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, Springfield Armory developed not only rifles but machine guns for ground and air use, grenade launchers, and associated equipment.

STCC is the only "technical" community college in Massachusetts, which aims to continue the legacy of technological innovation at the Springfield Armory site.

[16] The Main Arsenal Building and the Commanding Officer's Quarters were extensively renovated by Eastern General Contractors of Springfield, Massachusetts between 1987 and 1991.