The State Arsenal was erected in 1850 to replace an arsenal on the Old State House grounds that burned in 1836. Confederates seized it in September 1862, but Union forces recaptured it in October. It was the scene of a second skirmish in 1864. Fire destroyed the building in 1933, but the outer walls remained intact. It was rebuilt and used by the Department of Military Affairs until its conversion to the Military History Museum in 1973.