Military impact has been felt in this area since in 1816

File The first military facility on what was then known as Rock Island was Fort Armstrong. It was used from 1816 to 1836.

The Arsenal was established by an act of Congress on July 11, 1862. However, its history began earlier when the federal government acquired title to the land in 1804 through a treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians.

Fort Armstrong was built in 1816 to protect the early settlers. The garrison abandoned Fort Armstrong in 1836, a few years after the Black Hawk War, which was the last Indian uprising in Illinois. The Army maintained a small depot at the fort from 1840-1845, then the post was abandoned again.

File The government appropriated $100,000 to build the Arsenal at the outset of the Civil War. The Clock Tower, shown here at the beginning of the century, was the first building to be constructed. It is now the home of the Corps of Engineers.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Congress appropriated $100,000 to start construction of the Arsenal to store and repair arms and other munitions. Today, the building is known as the Clock Tower Building and houses the Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

A prison camp was established in 1863. During the Civil War, 13,000 Confederate soldiers were incarcerated on the island. A Civil War Cemetery is the final resting place for 1,964 Confederate soldiers and 125 Union guards.

Brevat Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Rodman assumed command of the Arsenal construction in 1865. His master plan called for a series of stone buildings containing manufacturing shops located on either side of Rodman Avenue.

North of the manufacturing area, he planned a residential area for the commanding officer and his assistants. Gen. Rodman is known as the Father of the RIA. He died in 1871 with only three buildings completed.

In support of the Spanish-American War, the Arsenal built most of the personal equipment, such as canteens, for the infantry, cavalry, and artillery soldiers and began production of howitzers. Employment was 2,902.

In World War I, the Arsenal built gun carriages, wagons, recoil mechanisms, rifles and other items worth more than $90 million. Employment was 13,400.

File The typical view in a shop at the Rock Island Arsenal during the Great War of 1917-1918. The Arsenal Built gun carriages, wagons, recoil mechanisms and rifles during World War I.

During World War II, the Arsenal built $200 million worth of items including recoil mechanisms, gun carriages, machine guns and mounts, airplane gun mounts and ship mounts. Employment peaked at 18,467.

Arsenal activities during the Korean conflict shifted to the development and manufacture of the bazooka, the 4.2-inch mortar, and the overhaul of tanks, artillery and small arms.

During the Vietnam War, the Arsenal produced artillery firing platforms, the 105mm howitzers, recoil mechanisms and gun mounts for various artillery pieces, mounts for machine guns and numerous other items.

Under Project REARM (REnovation of ARmament Manufacturing), the Arsenal underwent a major modernization of its manufacturing processes and became the premier manufacturing facility in the defense establishment. Its 2.1 million square feet of manufacturing space are equipped with state of the art computerized machining centers.

Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, the Arsenal made carriages, recoil mechanisms and final assembly of the M198 155 mm towed howitzers, produced gun mounts for two self-propelled howitzers and for the M1A1 Abrams tank.

It also provided spare parts for weapons during Operation Desert Storm, testing its reputation as the Army's job lot shop for emergency items. The Arsenal received and shipped orders for 17,792 components, 60 percent supported the M198 howitzer.

The Arsenal also supplied truck-mounted mini-machine shops,tool kits for field repairs and maintenance, and repainted the military vehicles from the Army Reserve green camouflage to a desert sand color.

Today, the Rock Island Arsenal is the free world's largest weapons manufacturing complex, providing howitzers, machine guns, prototypes, gun mounts and other artillery.

The Arsenal also is a leading military producer of customized tool sets and kits, trailers and other wheeled vehicles.

There are about 7,000 employees on Arsenal Island, including 1,600 assigned to the Rock Island Arsenal and the remainder with other civilian or military tenants. In fiscal 1997, the island provided $367 million in total payroll and had a daily economic impact of more than $1 million.