Jefferson Barracks Historic Site - Visitors Center, Laborer House and Stable

Jefferson Barracks Historic Site - Visitors Center, Laborer House and Stable. . , History of the Visitors Center, The building which today houses the Visitors Center for Jefferson Barracks County Park was built in 1878 as a two-level barn for the animals and wagons used by the artillery department. The lower level was made of limestone and the upper level was wood. , After World War I, the building was used to repair tanks and a stone ramp was built on the west side of the barn in 1925 to access the second floor. Later, during the Great Depression, the building became a storage facility for the Works Progress Administration., During World War II, it was used as a reception center where families could meet their loved ones who were stationed at Jefferson Barracks. , Jefferson Barracks was de-activated in 1946. Beginning around 1950, the federal government conveyed tracts of land to St. Louis County to operate as an historical park. It was about this time that the upper level was removed. In 1971 Jefferson Barracks County Park, the adjacent active military base, and several other adjoining land parcels were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. , The Friends of Jefferson Barracks, a volunteer support group for Jefferson Barracks County Park, was organized in 1983. The Friends operate a gift shop in the Visitors Center and sponsor events to raise money for the park. Through the efforts of the Friends, the upper level of the Visitors Center was restored in 2003 and it now serves as an education center and community facility. , Laborers House, Summer Kitchen, Garden, and Stable, The Laborers House was constructed in 1851 to house the civilian laborers who constructed the buildings in the Ordnance section of Jefferson Barracks. Later it housed the ordnance keeper and his family. At different times a porch or balcony has been a part of the building. , The summer kitchen can be seen to the west of the Laborers House. In the days before air conditioning, a summer kitchen was used in order to remove the heat of cooking from the main house during hot weather. By the late 1900s the summer kitchen was eliminated. , A typical garden of the 1850s might have included herbs and flowers that were essential not only to flavor food, but also used for medicinal applications such as treating fevers to settling upset stomachs. Herbs were also put to use as cosmetics, dyes, cleaners, insect repellants, air fresheners and sachets., The Stable was built in 1851 to house four horses and two wagons that were used to haul munitions from the St. Louis Arsenal to the ordnance magazines at Jefferson Barracks. The architectural feature of having two doors, so that a wagon could be driven through the stable, is unique. , The Visitors Center, Laborers House, and Stable were built of limestone from a quarry just east of here by the Mississippi River.