Wagon Barn Designs from the Historic American Building Survey 

Wagon barns were all purpose storage buildings usually located close to yesterday's houses. They sheltered carriages, work wagons, horses, fire wood, workshops, tools and just about anything else. They were the eighteenth and nineteenth century equals of today's garages.

 

The wagon barns listed below are just a few samples of the designs that have been preserved through the HABS. You can view their photos and print their measured drawings of floor plans, exterior elevations, building sections and construction details.

 

Early 19th Century Spangler Farm Carriage House, Emmitsburg Road (U.S. Route 15), Adams County, PA

Card # PA0018

This small barn, for carriages and farm wagons was built sometime before the Civil War, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

 

1886 Greenlawn, Carriage Barn, Route 896 (North Broad Street), 0.6 mile north of Middletown, Middletown vicinity, New Castle County, DE

Card # DE0257

Here's an example of Carpenter Gothic design. The builders made a fairly standard vernacular wagon barn a little more fashionable with the addition of a steep-roof front gable and some gingerbread trim.

 

1880 Walter-Kautz Farm, Corn Crib-Wagon Shed, River Road (Smithfield Township), Shawnee on Delaware vicinity, Monroe County, PA

Card # PA0614 

View and print measured drawings of a small Pennsylvania bank barn, built in 1880 to shelter farm wagons, tools and a corn crib.

 

1790s - 1870s Hayfields Farm Buildings, Worthington Valley, Cockeysville vicinity, Baltimore County, MD

Card # MD0462

Included in this set of drawings are a stone barn and barnyard buildings, a brick horse barn, a stone coachman's house, a carriage house, a wagon shed and more.

 

1700s Johannes Decker Coach House, Shawangunk, Ulster County, NY

Card # NY1149

Print measured drawings of a wagon barn that was built in Ulster County, New York, sometime between 1720 and 1784.

 

1854 Daniel T. Bigelow Stable, 918 East Glass Avenue, Olympia, Thurston County, WA

Card # WA0180

The hillside location of this practical three-level barn allowed access, from grade, to the first two levels.

 

1885 Augustus Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Stables, Saint Gaudens Road, off State Route 12A, Cornish City, Sullivan County, NH

Card # NH0132

This unusual building served as sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens' horse stables, carriage barn and ice house.

 

The Historic American Building Survey is a joint effort of the Library of Congress and the National Park Service. Read more about their efforts to preserve America's heritage by visiting their website: Built in America  To learn more about any of the designs listed here, search for it by its card number. Then, explore the vast and ever-growing HABS collection to view related building designs.