1850s
Built in 1995

A livery stable rented horses, wagons, and carriages needed to travel throughout the territory. Our livery is a reconstruction of a typical stable of the time, using the period construction methods of pegged timber framing. It is one of the few places in the Village where this construction remains visible.

Although our animals can be seen here, oxen were not normally housed in a livery stable. The pioneers preferred to use oxen rather than horses to haul their wagons for several good reasons. First, when a horse is hitched to a large load, it will pull once. If it cannot pull the load it will balk, whereas an ox will lean against a load until it can be moved. Secondly, unlike horses, oxen can live off any grasses growing wild. Horses must eat grain to survive. The term “ox” means any type of cattle (mainly males since they are stronger) that are over four years old and have been trained to be beasts of burden.