National Register of Historic Places

Confederate Armory Site

Holly Springs, Marshall County, Mississippi
Listed
April 10, 1972
Type
Site
Period
Early Republic
Ref No.
72000699

About this property

The Confederate Armory Site, a.k.a. Jones, McElwain and Company Iron Foundry, is a historic site in Holly Springs, Mississippi, US. It contains the scant ruins of the foundry built there in 1859, converted to an armory in 1861 by the Confederate States Army, used as a hospital by the Union Army in November 1862, and razed by the Confederates a month later. Located in Holly Springs, the county seat of Marshall County, in Northern Mississippi the foundry was established in 1859 as the headquarters of the Jones, McElwain and Company Iron Foundry. The railings the business produced can be seen at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Holly Springs as well as in New Orleans, Louisiana. The foundry also made iron used on slave plantations. The headquarters included several buildings and outbuildings, a foundry chimney, and ponds used as a water source for the foundry. In 1861, at the outset of the American Civil War which lasted until 1865, Wallace S. McElwain turned the foundry into an armory for the Confederate States Army. The foundry was commissioned by the government of the Confederate States of America to make 20,000 U.S. Model 1841-designed rifles and 10,000 U.S. Model 1842-designed muskets. They were also commissioned to make 5,000 rifles for the state of Mississippi. No arms bearing the marks of the foundry have been found, it is therefore believed that the foundry was able only to repair and convert existing arms before it was in danger of being overrun after the Battle of Shiloh. The equipment was moved to Macon, Georgia and the weapons on hand were sent to Grenada, Mississippi. On November 13, 1862, the Union Army invaded Holly Springs, and Union Major Horace R. Witz turned the armory into a hospital for Northern soldiers. It was also used as a storage facility for medical supplies used by Northerners. However, on December 20, 1862, Confederate General Earl Van Dorn burned down the site. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since April 11, 1972.

Location

Holly Springs, Marshall County, Mississippi
34.77948, -89.39458

Categories

INDUSTRYMILITARY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Depot-Compress Historic District
Listed
2.5 mi
East Holly Springs Historic District
Pre Contact
2.8 mi
Oakview
Industrial
2.9 mi
McCoy Administration Building
Pre Contact
3 mi
Old Water and Electric Light Plant
Industrial
3.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Confederate Armory Site listed on the National Register?

Confederate Armory Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 10, 1972.

What type of historic resource is Confederate Armory Site?

Confederate Armory Site is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Confederate Armory Site?

The period of significance for Confederate Armory Site is recorded as the early_republic era, specifically around 1859.

Can I research the history near Confederate Armory Site?

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