Arsenal Courts Historic District
Arsenal Courts, also known as Century Woods, is a nationally recognized historic district located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 43 resources, all of them contributing buildings. History Arsenal Courts is an apartment complex built by the United States Housing Authority from 1940 to 1941 to house defense workers at the Rock Island Arsenal. This was one of the earliest housing projects in Illinois funded by the agency. At that time, Rock Island was one of the country's largest arsenals and it manufactured munitions and military equipment. The construction of the apartments was an emergency measure brought by the onset of World War II. The arsenal was in need of more workers, but the area suffered from a housing shortage. The complex was designed by William Stuhr, a partner in the Rock Island architectural firm of Cervin & Stuhr. It was built by the Lovering Construction Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. After the war ended the need to house defense workers on this scale subsided, and the federal government ordered the Rock Island Housing Authority to change Arsenal Courts