Stable at Washington's Headquarters

The stable building at Washington's Headquarters is home to an exhibit about the iron industry.

NPS Photo/G. Purifoy

Quick Facts

Location:

Next to the Washington's Headquarters building in Valley Forge National Historical Park

Significance:

Estimated encampment-era building

Designation:

1-story masonry stable

Amenities

2 listed

Cellular Signal, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

The stable building at Washington's Headquarters is estimated to have been constructed around the same time as the house itself (c. 1773 or earlier), though the evidence to support this is limited to a mention in George Washington's expense account ledger during the Valley Forge encampment of "brooms for the stables" (Classified Structure Field Inventory Report for Stable, Washington's Headquarters, 1981).

In the 18th century, the building would have been used primarily to house horses and horse-drawn vehicles like coaches and carriages.

In 1926 the building was converted by Valley Forge State Park for use as a museum, then restored to a stable in 1975.

Today the building represents how it may have appeared during the Valley Forge encampment in 1777-78, and is home to a museum exhibit called Forging a Nation: Iron Making in Colonial America.