Staff photo by Clay Schuldt Joel Holz presents information on the controversies surrounding the building of the New Ulm Armory at the Brown County Historical Society’s historical program on Thursday.

NEW ULM — Brown County Historical Society (BCHS) kicked off its 2023 historical programming season Thursday with a series of three bite-size history lessons from New Ulm’s Gilded Age.

The Gilded Age was the period from 1870-1920 in the United States and it was a time of tremendous growth in Brown County. BCHS partnered with Martin Luther College (MLC) to present on local topics from this time period. Three MLC students gave 15-minutes presentations.

This is the third-part in a series of presentation covered by The Journal. The first part ran in Saturday’s paper, part two in Monday’s paper. This concluding presentation is from Joel Holz on the struggle to build the New Ulm Armory.

The struggle to

build the Armory

Holz chose to research the Armory because, in addition to studying at MLC to be a teacher, he serves at the Armory with the Minnesota Army National Guard as an Artillery Specialist.

Holz in researching the Armory found the most interesting aspect of its history was the struggle to build the New Ulm Armory.

“There are legal battles, financial battles, the people of New Ulm at each other’s throats,” he said. “It ended up being a very interesting project.”

In 1912, the state wants an armory in New Ulm and the city supported this idea. To entice the city to build the armory in New Ulm, the city agreed to give away the land. The idea was to sell the north portion of German Park, but this was unpopular with citizens.

Concerned citizens hired a local attorney to fight this decision. It was determined German Park was dedicated as a park and the city had no legal right to build an armory in it. The Minnesota Attorney General ultimately rules the city cannot give away dedicated parkland. This forced the city to find a new place to build the armory.

Citizens began suggesting locations where to build. Soon two factions began to form, fighting over where it should go. The two factions are called “Northsiders” and “Southsiders.” The Northsiders wanted it at 2nd N. and Broadway and the Southsiders wanted 2nd N. and Minnesota. These two locations were a block apart but it led to a bitter struggle.

The Southsiders were willing to provide the plot for free. The Northsiders offered their site for $1,800. The argument went on for months. The City Council decides to settle the decision with a council vote. The Northsiders’ property was the most popular, despite being more expensive.

This angered the Southsiders, and they threatened to a lawsuit against the city for mismanaging money. The Northsiders held a fundraiser to reduce the cost to $1,300 and the Southsiders withdrew the lawsuit.

The site was secured but there were insufficient funds. The state was willing to provide $30,000 and New Ulm had raised $2,000 but the cost was $45,000. The reason for the high cost was New Ulm wanted a special building that was a “monument to militarism.” This is the reason the Armory resembles a castle.

To cover the shortfall, New Ulm decided that instead of simplifying the building, they would change Minnesota law allowing the state to give the armory project another $15,000. This worked and the law was rewritten and the state fully funded it.

When completed, the Armory was the most impressive building in New Ulm, standing over all other buildings in the area. Little of the building has changed over the year. Holz said the interior is a hodgepodge of construction. With each new advancement in technology, the interior was altered to meet modern standards.

New doors were added over the years allowing better access to the facilities. The double doors on the front were an addition from the 1930s. The ramp came in during the 1940s.

Holz said the Armory will be closing in a few years. A new armory building is being built near the new field maintenance facility on the north side of New Ulm. For now, the current New Ulm Armory is the oldest active armory in Minnesota.

Holz said it is unknown what will happen to the building after it is closed. The city of New Ulm has rights of first refusal, but it will likely go onto the private market and be re-purposed.