Fort Larned Shops Building

The shops building would have been alive with activity during the day.

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

Larned, KS

Amenities

4 listed

Accessible Rooms, Benches/Seating, Cellular Signal, Wheelchair Accessible

The shops building is the only building that doesn't face the Parade Ground because of all the work done here. There would have been wagons coming and going, and men outside working on various projects, none of which were suitable activities to be carried out on the parade ground.

Bakery

All frontier military posts needed a bakery to supply the soldiers with their daily ration of bread. Each soldier got one loaf of bread per day, along with other food items such as beef, bacon, coffee, beans and condiments like salt, sugar and vinegar.

The bakery operated seven days a week with a chief baker on duty at all times. He would be assisted by either soldiers assigned to the duty or civilians contracted for the job. At the height of the fort's operation there were an average of 275 soldiers stationed at Fort Larned, meaning the chief baker and his assistants baked at least that many loaves of bread per day.

Saddlery, Carpentry & Wheelwright Shop

The saddler was responsible for repairing, or making, anything made of leather. This included repairs to leather equipment for cavalry horses, the horses and mules who pulled wagons, as well as the leather equipment used by soldiers. He also made leather items such as looped cartridge belts, or dispatch cases.  

The carpenter and wheelwright took care of all woodwork and wagon repair for the post. The carpenter was responsible for all lumber repair work, built and repaired wagon wheels and wagon boxes, as well as any other work with wood. The wheelwright maintained the wagons, and as the post sail maker, repaired the wagon covers and army tents.

Blacksmith Shop

A blacksmith shop was essential for any frontier military post. This shop had two forges and all the equipment a blacksmith needed to do his job properly. Fort Larned had two main blacksmiths with several apprentices/helpers. Extra help, if needed, came from enlisted men brought in for extra pay.

The post blacksmith was a civilian contractor who worked for the Quartermaster Department. His job was to repair or manufacture any hardware needed at the post. He was also responsible for wagon repairs, which was usually the biggest part of his job. At a large post blacksmiths could specialize. At a small post like Fort Larned, the blacksmith was a generalist who had to be able to do a lot of different jobs.