History
Originally called the Seventh Regiment Armory and is located in Los Angeles's Exposition Park across Exposition Boulevard from the University of Southern California. It was built in 1912 and designed by architect J.W. Wollett. It was initially home to the regimental headquarters of the 7th California Infantry Regiment and some of its subordinate companies, and Troop D, 1st California Cavalry Squadron.
In 1916, as a result of the Mexican Border Crisis, the armory and the park's racetrack became the mobilization camp for the:
As soon as they returned from the Mexican Border, they were mobilized
for World War I. During that war, the armory was garrisoned by
the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th, and 15th Separate Infantry Companies,
National Guard of California. It is suspected that the armory
served as the home for the wartime California Home Guard (1917-1919)
and the post-war California Military Reserve (1919-1920)
After World War I, the separate infantry companies were consolidated as the 2nd Separate Infantry Battalion. In 1921, the entire 160th Infantry Regiment was located at the Exposition Park Armory. In 1937 they were joined by the Medical Department Detachment and 2nd Battalion of the 115th Quartermaster Regiment.
Aside from its military functions, the armory was also an exhibition and event venue. The armory hosted the fencing competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics as well as the fencing part of the modern pentathlon. It seated 1,800 for the events.
in March 1941, the 40th Division was mobilized and the 160th Infantry Regiment and 115th Quartermaster Regiment left for their mobilization station at Camp San Luis Obispo. But soon, the 2nd and 7th Infantry Regiments, California State Guard were organized at the armory. The 2nd Infantry Regiment was command by Colonel Rupert Hughes, Howard Hughes's uncle. The 7th Infantry Regiment was an African-American regiment.
Soon after Pearl Harbor, Governor Culbert Olsen formed a tertiary defense force called the California State Militia. Several of the separate companies were assigned space at the armory, the most famous being the California Chinese Reserves and the California Korean Reserves. The California State Militia was absorbed by the better organized, trained, and equipped California State Guard in 1943.
In 1947, a portion of the armory was temporarily converted into a bowling alley and hosted a tournament of the American Bowling Congress. That same year saw the return of the 160th Infantry Regiment, less its 3rd Battalion which was located in Buildings 503 and 504 at Cheli Air Force Station in nearby Maywood. But it also saw the following units taking up residence:
* African-American manned and officered units formed just prior to the desegregation of the Army in order to provide trained combat engineers and other specialties to other units of the California National Guard after the implementation of President Harry Truman's Executive Order 9981
With the start of the Korean War, the armory was again vacated with the mobilization of the 40th Infantry Division. And as with World War II, the National Guard was soon replaced with the California Defense and Security Corps, which was almost immediately renamed the California National Guard Reserve (CNGR).
The CNGR's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Division; Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Group; 1st & 3rd Battalions, and Company A, 2nd Battalion were located in the armory.
In 1952, the National Guardsmen serving in Korea began rotation home and the 40th Infantry Division (National Guard of the United States [NGUS]) was formed as a duplicate of the 40th Infantry Division still serving in Korea. Once again, the 160th Infantry Regiment (less its 3rd Battalion and Tank Company) took up residence in the armory.
In 1954, the division was converted into the 40th Armored Division and the following units were located at the armory:
In 1961, the newly redesignated 1st Armored Rifle Battalion, 160th
Infantry Regiment departed their traditional home for Glendale
leaving the following units in an armory until approximately 1963
when the armory was vacated by the California National Guard,
replaced by the Los Angeles Federal Avenue, Los Angeles Hope Street,
and Bell Armories.
Soon after the National Guard left, the building became the Headquarters
of the newly reorganized California State Colleges (now the California
State Universities) and housed the system's Chancellor's office
and its Board of Trustees. A few short years later the system
establish a permanent headquarters in Long Beach.
After the California State
Colleges departure, the armory became an exhibition center of
the Los Angeles Museum of Science and Industry (now the California
Science Center). In 1990, the building was closed for earthquake
retrofitting and improvements.
Today the armory is still state property and is an annex of the
California Science Center known as the Wallis Annenberg Building.
The building also is home to the Dr. Theodore T. Alexander Science
Center School, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
focused local elementary school operated jointly by the California
Science Center and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Wikipedia History
The Los Angeles State Armory (later referred to as the Exposition Park Armory) is a building located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California. It was built in 1912 and designed by architect J.W. Wollett.[1] The building served as the armory for the 160th Infantry Regiment between World War I and World War II[2]
The armory hosted the fencing competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics as well as the fencing part of the modern pentathlon.[3] It seated 1,800 for the event. It also served as an exposition hall and ballroom during the early- and mid-20th century. In 1947, the armory was converted into a bowling alley and hosted a tournament of the American Bowling Congress.[4]
The 160th left in 1961, and the building was used as headquarters for the Board of Trustees of the California State Colleges in the 1960s[5] It then served as exhibit space for the Los Angeles Museum of Science and Industry (now the California Science Center) from the 1960s to the 1980s, before being closed in 1990 due to seismic concerns.
The building is currently an annex of the California Science Center, serving as the Science Center School and the Amgen Center for Science Learning since 2004. It is now known as The Wallis Annenberg Building.
Currently the building serves as the fictitious "Jeffersonian Institute" in the television series, "Bones".
References
