WALLER DEPOT HISTORY

The Museum’s Future Site

On November 13, 2024, the Adjutant General of Virginia, Major General James W. Ring, announced that the future Museum of the Virginia National Guard will be constructed at S. Gardner Waller Depot in Richmond, Virginia. 

Learn more and watch updates on the project on the Building the Museum page.

What is Waller Depot?

Named after Major General Samuel Gardner Waller, Virginia’s Adjutant General from 1931 to 1955, Waller Depot was the Virginia National Guard’s main distribution and storage depot from the end of WWII through the Cold War. 

The Virginia National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force, 34th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosives Enhanced Response Force Package, and Virginia Defense Force are currently stationed at Waller Depot. 

Their vital operations will continue at this location as work begins on the multi-year effort to transform the site into a public museum and education campus.

Who Was Major General Waller?

Major General Waller (1882–1955) served as Virginia’s Adjutant General for 25 years—the longest continuous tenure in the Commonwealth’s history.  Appointed in July 1931 by Governor John Garland Pollard, he was reappointed by six successive governors and held the position until his death on December 2, 1955.  Before he was appointed Adjutant General, Waller served as Mayor of Front Royal from 1904 to 1916, and as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1924 to 1927.

Waller began his Virginia National Guard service in 1903 as a private in Company D (Front Royal) of the 72nd Virginia Volunteers.  Later that year, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant after earning his law degree from the University of Virginia.  He commanded Company D, 2nd Virginia Infantry during the Mexican Border Campaign (1916–1917), and later led the 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry, 29th Division in France during World War I.  Despite being gassed during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, he remained with his command until the end of the attack.  By the war’s end, he had earned the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In September 1921, Waller was promoted to brigadier general and assumed command of the 91st Infantry Brigade, which included the 1st and 116th Infantry Regiments.  He was also elected President of the National Guard Association of the United States in October 1936.

As Adjutant General, Waller oversaw the Virginia Army National Guard’s mobilization for World War II and a partial mobilization for the Korean War.  During World War II, he re-established the Virginia State Guard (now the Virginia Defense Force) and, after the war, played a key role in forming the Virginia Air National Guard.  He also led a statewide effort to construct or refurbish armories throughout Virginia.

Waller served as Virginia’s Adjutant General until his death on December 2, 1955.  Months earlier, on August 18, 1955, the site was officially named the “S. Gardner Waller Depot,” making it the only Virginia National Guard facility that has been named for a living person.