Colorado National Guard Armory
Armory | |
Location | Golden, Colorado |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°45′14″N 105°13′16″W / 39.75394°N 105.22121°W |
Built | 1913 |
Architect | James H. Gow |
Architectural style | Castle |
NRHP reference No. | 78000860 |
Added to NRHP | December 18, 1978 |
The Colorado National Guard Armory, known commonly by locals simply as the Armory, is a landmark in
Today the Armory houses Cafe 13, a local coffeeshop, on the first floor. The second floor is Colorado School of Mines student housing which is administered by the church. The remaining first floor, third floor, and fourth floor tower are home to Connects Workspace, Golden's only coworking space.
Cobblestone Castle
The cornerstone for the building was laid 14 June 1913. Built in 1913 and 1914, partially during the height of the Colorado Coalfield War, a strategic building for “observation” was desired.[1] The Armory was designed by James H. Gow, originally in a design that was meant to be made of brick, and then of granite. Cost-cutting measures led the Guard to switch the building to a free and plentiful local resource, cobblestone, leading to the building’s distinctive and famous appearance. Some 3,300 wagonloads weighing 6,600 tons were hauled by Lawrence W. Billis from Clear Creek to this site, and as it rose some locals and experts predicted it would collapse. Although its cornerstone, at the northeast base corner of the second level, appears out of plumb, this is an optical illusion created by the cobblestone construction.
The building was designed as a castle due to the
It was listed in
See also
References
- ^ "Colorado National Guard Armory". Golden History. Golden, CO. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Proceedings of the Eleventh National Convention of the American Legion. Louisville, KY: American Legion. 1929.
Golden Landmarks Association Archived 2022-01-10 at the Wayback Machine