Motor Vehicle Storage Building

Built 1949, possibly designed by Heyward Singley. No other details known.¹

Armory Building:

Contractor: Spong Construction Co.
Cost: $126,061 (contract bid amount)
Dedicated: September 27, 1959
Notes:

Built as a One-Unit Armory²

The South Carolina Army National Guard first established a presence at the town of Allendale on April 9, 1947, when it officially organized Company H, 2nd Battalion, 118th Infantry and secured federal recognition for this new facility. Shortly thereafter, in 1949, SCARNG constructed a brick Motor Vehicle Storage Building (MVSB) for use as a vehicle storage facility on property located near the Allendale County Court House that had been recently acquired for the establishment of such an armory.³ This building continued to serve as the primary SCARNG facility at Allendale until September 27, 1959, when the current main armory building was formally dedicated.⁴ Construction of this new armory building occurred immediately following the reorganization of Company H on April 1, 1959, into the 1054th Transportation Company (Tactical Carrier).⁵ Within days of the new armory building’s dedication, the Allendale Guard was called to service in Beaufort County following the devastation of Hurricane Gracie.

Less than two years later, in March 1961, SCARNG again reorganized the company and transferred the 1st and 2nd Carrier Platoons to Hampton. Another reorganization on April 30, 1964, created Company A, 3rd Battalion, 263rd Armor. Following their meritorious award of the Eisenhower Trophy in 1966, the Allendale Guard unit was again reorganized as the 4th Transportation Platoon (Light Truck) on January 1, 1968, effectively attaching it to the 163rd Transportation Battalion. The platoon provided assistance to Orangeburg and Charleston authorities in 1968 following race riots in both locations. In December 1971, the platoon was once again reorganized, this time as four distinct detachments: the 264th Engineer Detachment (Firefighter), the 265th Engineer Detachment (Water Purification), the 266th Engineer Detachment (Water Purification), and the 267th Engineer Detachment (Water Purification).⁶ Another two reorganizations of the water purification units in 1984 and 1985 created the 265th, 266th, and 267th Quartermaster Detachments (Water Purification).⁷

Since that time, the Allendale Armory complex has continued to serve as the home of these units and as the rented venue for occasional community events, including a craft fair and various weddings and other parties.⁸ In addition, following the 1998 arson at the nearby Allendale County Courthouse, the 1959 armory building at Allendale served as the temporary repository for many of the Allendale County records while reconstruction of the courthouse was completed.⁹

As of the 2010 site visit, the Allendale armory facility included a total of five buildings and a small steel chemical storage bin located on approximately 6.3 acres in the center of the Town of Allendale near the town’s Court House complex. Three of the facility’s buildings are smaller outbuildings that are located, along with the chemical storage bin, at the northeast perimeter of the complex.