Cavalry Stable #4

Load-bearing brick walls three courses thick, a wood-framed gable roof, and metal rain gutters are among the surviving historic features of this 1906 stable. The fort originally had six stables, built between 1879 and 1881, that accommodated approximately 400 animals. Each housed the 66 horses assigned to a typical cavalry company.

The Quartermaster Department and military band had their own stables. This building replaced an older stable that burned in 1905, underscoring the importance of horses to the military even into the twentieth century. It is slightly larger than the original and stabled 73 horses. A cavalryman’s first duty was to dress in his stable-work uniform, feed, water, and groom his horse, clean the stall, and add fresh hay.

The last cavalry left the fort in 1907 and the remaining stables were torn down in the 1920s. Stable #4, however, was newer than the others and thus survived for other purposes. Portions of the building continued in use as a recreation room during summer camps and a community dance hall. It was later used as a winter granary and even more recently for storage.