May 17, 2012New York State Armory
Located at 50 South Main Street
The local National Guard Unit, Company B of the 127th Armored Battalion has its roots in the Swedish immigrant population of Jamestown.
The village of Jamestown had been without any militia or guard unit from 1863 until August 1875 when the Fenton Guards was mustered in as the First Separate Company of Infantry, 31st Brigade, Nation Guard of New York. The Guards was founded by John. P. Hollers, editor of the Jamestown Swedish newspaper Folkets Rost and his friend, Konrad Hult, who owned a haberdashery. The unit was comprised primarily of young Swedish men. In addition to the sharpshooter and marching units, the Guard formed their own band and male choir.
After occupying various buildings, the Guards moved into Jamestown’s first State Armory, located at this site, in 1888. It burned in 1942 but the Guard had moved to the Porter Avenue Armory in 1933.
The strong Swedish identity of the unit provoked controversy leading to a reorganization in1882. Further redesignations and wartime call-ups clouded the identity of the unit until the name Fenton Guards faded away after 1940.
SITE OF THE
NEW YORK STATE ARMORY
THE FENTON GUARDS, ORGANIZED IN 1875 BY SWEDISH IMMIGRANTS, WAS THE LOCAL NATIONAL GUARD UNTI WHICH OCCUPIED THE FIRST ARMORY HERE IN 1888.