Fort Washington Avenue Armory
216 Fort Washington Avenue | also 651 West 168th Street, 216 Ft Washington Avenue | Washington Heights | built 1944
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1911
The 22nd Regiment's armory rises on Fort Washington Avenue
Walker & Morris designed the armory, completed in 1911 for about $1.16 million, in a Classical Revival style with Romanesque touches. It housed the 22nd Regiment of the Army Corps of Engineers, a unit that traced its roots to the Union Grays, who helped put down the 1863 draft riots.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1968
A rifle club runs a 100-yard indoor shooting range in the armory
The New York Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun Club had its home in the armory from 1968 to 1978, with a multi-lane range that ran 100 yards indoors. Barry Satz, who lived a few blocks away, ran the range. The club met on Tuesday nights, and members carried small arms in from across the city to fire at the targets.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1987
New York Track & Field is driven out of the armory by 1987
Hunter College's athletics history says the armory, built as a National Guard training center, was converted into a homeless shelter after the economic troubles of the 1970s. By 1987 New York Track & Field, which had made the armory its home, had been driven out. Running would not return in earnest until a renovation began in 1993.
Source: huntercollegeathletics.com
- 1992
Dr. Norbert Sander starts the campaign to restore the armory's track
The drill floor had been used as a homeless shelter housing more than 1,000 people. In 1992 Norbert Sander began a restoration campaign that raised $25 million, and the building became home to the Armory Foundation, with a banked 200-meter track that now hosts more than 100 meets a year along with educational programs.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1993
A flat Mondo track goes in as the armory's track renovation begins
Renovation of the armory's track began in 1993, when a flat Mondo-surface track was installed. The work was guided by Michael Frankfurt, an attorney who chaired its board, and Dr. Norbert Sander, who was president of The Armory Foundation.
Source: huntercollegeathletics.com
- 1995
The armory is added to the National Register of Historic Places
In 1995 the Fort Washington Avenue Armory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The listing came as part of a nomination covering multiple Army National Guard armories across New York State.
Source: theclio.com
- 1997
A banked track is built on top of the original flat track
In 1997 a banked track was built on top of the original flat Mondo track installed in 1993. Hunter College's athletics history says the new track made the armory a world-class facility.
Source: huntercollegeathletics.com
- 2002
The armory becomes home to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame
In 2002, the Fort Washington Avenue Armory becomes the permanent home of track and field's National Hall of Fame. The honor follows the armory's return to competitive use after Dr. Norbert Sander's 1992 campaign installed a new banked track. Earlier in its history the building had served as a homeless shelter housing more than a thousand people on its drill floor, before the mid-1980s shift to track and field use.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2012
The Millrose Games move to the Armory from Madison Square Garden
In 2012 the Millrose Games, held for years at Madison Square Garden, moved to the Armory's six-lane banked track. The building also houses the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, founded there in 2002, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2020
The 2020 Millrose Games produce three American records before a sellout crowd
At the 2020 Millrose Games, a sellout crowd of 5,500 saw three American indoor records fall. Donavan Brazier ran 1:44.22 in the men's 800, beating his own 1:44.41 from the 2019 meet. Ajee' Wilson won the women's 800 in 1:58.29, and Elle Purrier ran the women's mile in 4:16.85, bettering Mary Slaney's 1982 mark.
Source: trackandfieldnews.com
- 2025
Yared Nuguse sets a world record on the armory's track
In 2025, professional runner Yared Nuguse runs an indoor-mile world record of 3:46.63 at the Fort Washington Avenue Armory. The mark comes more than three decades after Dr. Norbert Sander's campaign installed the armory's banked track and reestablished it as a premier indoor racing venue. The Millrose Games, moved to the armory in 2012, continue to draw top milers to the same track.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Fort Washington Avenue ArmoryWikipedia
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