Built 1865 NRHP Reference # 76000279 Added to NRHP 7 October 1976 | Architectural style Italianate, Other Opened 1865 | |
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Architect Horn,George W.; French,Thomas J. Similar Town Diner, Armenian Library and Museum, Oakley Country Club | ||
The Commanding Officer's Quarters, Watertown Arsenal is a historic house at 443 Arsenal Street in Watertown, Massachusetts. During the American Civil War, a new commander's quarters was commissioned by then-Capt. Thomas J. Rodman, inventor of the Rodman gun, for the Watertown Arsenal. The lavish, 12,700 sq ft (1,180 m2), quarters would ultimately become one of the largest commander's quarters on any U.S. military installation. The expense ($63,478.65) was considered wasteful and excessive and drew a stern rebuke from Congress, who then promoted Rodman to Brigadier General and sent him to command Rock Island Arsenal on the frontier in Illinois, where he built an even larger commander's quarters. The Watertown commander's quarters house now houses offices and a museum about the arsenal.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and included in the Watertown Arsenal Historic District in 1999.