04/28/2026
Our first “Jefferson Barracks: Then & Now” post is for our very own 1905 Post Exchange and Gymnasium building! This structure was built amidst a period of major modernization and construction at Jefferson Barracks around the turn of the century. Built primarily out of brick and limestone in Federal architectural style, it was made to serve as the military post’s primary commercial and recreational center. Along with its gym and store, the building was equipped with a running track, locker room, bowling alley, indoor pistol range, barber shop, library, kitchen, and office space. In the First World War, the building was converted into a barracks to accommodate the massive mobilization of troops at the post, remaining as such through the 1930s. During the Second World War, the 1905 building was briefly converted back into an athletic facility before the needs of the nearby hospital turned it into an overflow medical ward for recovering troops. The building was relinquished from federal control at the end of the war and was in the hands of the state and county for the rest of the century. By the 2000s, the old 1905 Post Exchange and Gymnasium had fallen into major disrepair and abandonment, but in 2002, a small dedicated team stepped into to save this building, restore it to its original condition, and convert it into a new Civil War museum.
