The Charlottesville Industrial and Land Improvement Co. erected this building in 1889-90 and conveyed it and a certain quantity of land (Block 2 of the Rose Hill plat) to James and James A. Armstrong, “upon consideration that they occupy said building for the manufacture of knit goods — and employ sixty to seventy hands for a five-year term and an average of one hundred day laborers.” The Armstrong Building’s status as the oldest surviving factory building in Charlottesville, and the only industrial building in the Second Empire style, make it an important part of the architectural and historical fabric of the city and the Rose Hill neighborhood.

The buildings and districts listed under the Charlottesville Multiple Resource Area nomination represent a cross section of all the city’s historic periods, from the founding of Charlottesville in the 1760s through the advent of the automobile and the impact it had on the city’s expansion. Also included are buildings that have played an important part in the history of Charlottesville’s black community. The Armstrong Knitting Factory was listed in the registers under the Charlottesville MRA without a formal nomination document.