In 1832 a Federal decision was made to move the Detroit Arsenal away from a growning Detroit (Population of 10,000 to 15,000) to early Dearbornville. After several years of construction, beginning in 1833, the new Arsenal was completed in 1837--the same year Michigan became a state. The Federal Arsenal Grounds originally covered 1,652 acres in Dearborn.
Eleven Arsenal buildings were clustered for the garrison within 12-foot-high brick walls surrounding a square of 360 feet on all sides in the heart of what is now the bustling downtown business district of West Dearborn. Of these buildings, two remain in use for the Museum's Historical Displays:
The Commandant's Quarters at Michigan and Monroe and the McFadden-Ross House: Originally the Arsenal Powder Magazine, on Brady Street.
The Arsenal created the first boom in Dearborn's emergence as a sizable community. The Commandant's Quarters was the home of the nineteen commandants who lived here until the Arsenal closed in 1875. The home was opened to the public as the City of Dearborn's first Historical Museum building in 1950.

Below are the Residents of the US Arsenal in 1860. There may be a few spelling errors in surnames due to transcribing census taker's hand writing.