Introduction

The Willimantic Armory was first conceived in 1909 when the town officials requested funding for a modern armory from the Connecticut General Assembly. At that time the town was in the midst of an exodus of its residents leaving for the surrounding towns in search of better economic opportunities. That made the development of the town a major priority for its government. Though there was some opposition to the Armory at first by senators who thought that building an armory in Willimantic would be an unnecessary expense since there were already many armories throughout Connecticut and the surrounding area, but after some time the request for funds was approved in 1911. $50,000 was allocated for the building.