The Fifth Regiment Armory is a historic

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

armory built in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States in 1901. The Armory is a fortress-type structure situated in midtown Baltimore. It consists of a full basement, a first floor containing a 200 foot by 300 foot

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

, a mezzanine or "balcony" level, and a newer second level (reconstructed in 1933 after a fire) housing the trussed steel drill hall roof. The façade features

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es,

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

s, casement windows, and a crenellated roofline, giving the appearance of a medieval fortification. It was the site of the

1912 Democratic National Convention The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory off North Howard Street in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. The Convention The convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore from June 25 t ...

. The Fifth Regiment Armory was designed by architects Wyatt & Nolting. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1985. It is included within the Baltimore National Heritage Area. On October 31, 1958, President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

delivered a televised speech from the Fifth Regiment Armory. The event, promoting Republican Party candidates in that year's midterm elections, was attended by Maryland Governor

Theodore McKeldin Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin (November 20, 1900August 10, 1974) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, McKeldin served as mayor of Baltimore twice, from 1943 to 1947 and again from 1963 to 1967, and as Governor of Marylan ...

, Senator John Glenn Beall, Jr., Senator John Marshall Butler, and Congressman James Devereux.

Museum

The Maryland Museum of Military History, housed at the Armory, collects artifacts and runs programming related to Maryland's militias, dating back to

Colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

, and present-day branches of the military.

References

External links

*, including photo from 1980, at Maryland Historical Trust
Fifth Regiment Armory Baltimore, Maryland; Office of the Secretary of State of Maryland website

Fifth Regiment Armory – Explore Baltimore Heritage
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore Military installations established in 1901 Renaissance Revival architecture in Maryland Baltimore National Heritage Area Downtown Baltimore Midtown, Baltimore