Dover’s Armory was formally opened November 25, 1930. It was built in 1930 to house Battery B, 197th Regiment, Coast Artillery Anti Aircraft (AA) of the New Hampshire National Guard. The building was described as thoroughly modern with every up to date convenience. The building was constructed of brick with ornamental stonework. The central feature of the building was the drill shed, which had a floor space of 60 by 90 feet. The northeast corner of the building had a gun room for the anti-aircraft gun. “The floor is on a level with the main floor, but is of concrete, sunk to a depth halfway between that of the basement and the street floor, with wide doors through which the anti-aircraft gun mounted on its truck may be run in. And by a clever arrangement of doors opening out into the drill shed on the north end of the room, the muzzle of the gun may be pointed through the opening thus made and drill with the gun, sighting at a target hung on one of the steel girders in the drill shed”.
In 1962 the Dover Recreation Department acquired the armory and turned it into Butterfield Gym. In 2008, the renovated building was rented to the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire.
