The National Guard has been in Hickman since 1956. The unit was first organized as Battery C, 142nd Field Artillery Battalion, 23rd Corps Artillery, and retained that designation until 1959, when it was de-activated. There was no National Guard unit in Hickman from October, 1959, until April of 1963. The National Guard met in the American Legion Hall across Jackson Street from the Hickman Post Office from 1956-1959. "Later the armory was located in the building occupied by the Kentucky Farm Bureau Office of Philip Grissom and the U.S. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service adjacent to the White Clinic on Moulton Street."
When the unit was revived in 1963, it was reorganized as Company D, 3rd Medium Tank Battalion (Patton), of the 123rd Armor. In 1964, the unit was reorganized again, as Company C, 1st Battalion, 123rd Armor. In 1968, the National Guard was reorganized again as the Scout and Heavy Mortars Platoon with AVLB Section, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 123rd Armor. The unit was reorganized again in March of 1972, when it became the Combat Support Unit. In the 1980s, the unit was again reorganized as the Scouts and Mortars, and from 1995-97, the Guard went through a train-up period, with redesignation as Detachment 1, 2113th Transportation Company in May of 1997. The unit headquarters are located in Paducah. The National Guard in Hickman has never been involved in combat overseas and they did not have anyone participate in Desert Storm.
Prior to the new armory, the National Guard occupied a rented building located at the corner of Myron Cory Drive and State Road 94. This building was used from 1963 until 1975, and is now owned by Coffee Construction Company.
The National Guard armory in Hickman serves as both a community center and military facility. On the opening night of the armory, a dance was held for members of the Guard and the community. Other activities take place or have taken place at the armory, including wedding receptions, Christmas and New Year's Eve parties, Homecoming celebrations, and meetings of civic organizations and unions. The Fulton County Chamber of Commerce has used the armory for meetings, judges' luncheons have taken place there, and the armory is used as a polling place/voting precinct for the county. In addition, the Fulton County district court was held at the armory for three years while the courthouse was undergoing restoration (1989-1992). The National Guard in Hickman participates in the Junior Guard program at Fulton County Middle School, and they participate in the county Fall Festival every year.
In 1997, the Hickman Guard was activated for flood duty in Paducah for two weeks - that has been their only state active duty as Detachment 1 /2113th Transportation Company. The unit's state duty for the year is transportation of equipment to Annual Training sites for other National Guard units in the state. Last year, the Hickman National Guard hauled ammunition from Seneca Falls, New York to Lexington Blue Grass Depot and then to Paducah.
Construction began on the Hickman Armory in August of 1974. It was completed in 1975 and dedicated on September 20 of that same year. The armory was completed at a cost of $496,000 with money provided by the Federal government and the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs. The armory is a one-story brick building with a two-story drill hall rising behind it, situated on approximately five acres of land. The building has pebble stone or "creek gravel" accents on the front and sides. This is the only armory in the state with such ornamentation. The current armory is the only one ever built in Hickman.
Photos and information courtesy Kentucky Heritage Council -- Report No. 25" Inventory and Evaluation of National Guard Armories in the State of Kentucky" - 1999 by Kate Carothers.