Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Virginia Front Royal Front Royal Quartermaster Remount Depot
AO Edited

Front Royal Quartermaster Remount Depot

These buildings are a poignant reminder of the thousands of horses and mules who passed through this area of the Shenandoah Valley on their way to war.

Front Royal, Virginia

Added By
Sydney Rose
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
U-Shaped Remount Stable   Sydney Rose / Atlas Obscura User
Stalls   Sydney Rose / Atlas Obscura User
Dip Tank   Sydney Rose / Atlas Obscura User
U-Shaped Remount Stable   Sydney Rose / Atlas Obscura User
Quartermaster Headquarters   Sydney Rose / Atlas Obscura User
  Sydney Rose / Atlas Obscura User
U.S. Army Remount Station Front Royal   Boston Public Library/CC BY 2.0
Full view of stables   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

On property now home to the Northern Virginia 4H Educational and Conference Center are the well-worn remnants of an organization created to fulfill the U.S. Army's unabated need for horses and mules that continued through the Second World War. By the early 1900s, the popularity of the automobile made it increasingly difficult to procure substantial quantities of quality military horses on the private market. To ensure an adequate equine supply for cavalry, artillery, and pack units, the Army's Quartermaster Corps established the Remount Service. In 1911, they chose Front Royal, Virginia, as one of three original Remount Depot locations because of its proximity to Virginia horse breeding operations and rail transportation.

Accordingly, the Army purchased over 5,000 acres in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The facility opened on August 30, 1911, and, by 1915, work was completed on several permanent structures, including a veterinary hospital, granary, stables, barracks, and eleven barn complexes. Still standing on the 4H property is the original Quartermaster Headquarters building, a tin-roofed dip tank, and a u-shaped stable with 44 stalls. The buildings date to 1911. Although the Quartermaster building and dip tank show disrepair from age, the stable and stalls are in serviceable condition. The stall doors have brass plaques with commemorative inscriptions from donors to restoration efforts. 

The Front Royal Remount Depot received its first six breeding stallions in 1912. Five were thoroughbreds donated by August Belmont of the New York Jockey Club and included the Hall of Fame racehorse, Henry of Navarre. American Flag, son of the great Man O' War, joined the station's stallion ranks in 1942. Over those 28 years, the Army breeding program was in operation, the Remount Service registered 715 stallions and produced over 230,000 foals. Along with its successful breeding efforts, the Remount Depot always fulfilled its primary mission of training and delivering equids for military use. Thousands of horses and mules were sent to Front Royal to be conditioned and then shipped by train to Norfolk, Virginia, to be placed on transport ships bound for European theaters of war. Most would never return.

By the mid-1940s, the need for cavalry horses had all but disappeared. During WWII, the Army also used the Depot property to train military dogs and house German and Italian POWs paroled to work on local farms. When the Remount Service was made redundant in 1948, they were raising and training mules almost exclusively.

Well-known horses associated with the Depot include the mare Jenny Camp. Ridden by Army Captain Earl F. Thomson in the Los Angeles and Berlin Olympics, she remains one of only three horses to win consecutive individual medals. General Black Jack Pershing's famous WWI warhorse, Kidron, was retired to the Depot. The thoroughbred died and was buried there in 1942 at the age of 36. And the German Lipizzaner stallions rescued by General George S. Patton at the end of World War II were among 143 German POW horses quarantined at Front Royal upon their arrival in America. 

The Front Royal property was turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and used as a cattle breeding station after the dissolution of the Remount Service. Since 1974, much of the land adjoining the 4H property belongs to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI). The SCBI property includes the Remount's old stallion barns, training and racing track, and horse cemetery. (The SCBI property is only publicly accessible during the Institute's annual Open House.) With that property came an Army pensioner—Old Tom, the last Remount mule. He lived there to the Methuselan age of 47 and is buried on Race Track Hill. 

Related Tags

Army Horses Military History World War Ii

Know Before You Go

The 4H Remount Depot buildings are located on Moore Road between Harmony Hollow Road and 4H Center Drive. They are now called the James E. Swart Animal Center. 

Community Contributors

Added By

Sydney Rose

Edited By

blimpcaptain

  • blimpcaptain

Published

September 7, 2021

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Front Royal Quartermaster Remount Depot
600 4h Center Dr
Front Royal, Virginia, 22630
United States
38.859319, -78.171495
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Front Royal, Virginia

miles away

Dinosaurland

White Post, Virginia

miles away

The White Post

White Post, Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Front Royal

Front Royal

Virginia

Places 2

Nearby Places

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Front Royal, Virginia

miles away

Dinosaurland

White Post, Virginia

miles away

The White Post

White Post, Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Front Royal

Front Royal

Virginia

Places 2

Related Places

  • The water tank

    Oxford, England

    Slade Camp

    A lost World War II military camp and post-war suburb swallowed by the woods.

  • Zephyrhills, Florida

    Zephyrhills Museum of Military History

    This facility, now a museum, once housed and trained U.S. Army Air Force pilots who flew during the Allied invasion of Normandy.

  • Barracks / munitions storage.

    Zedelgem, Belgium

    Vloethemveld

    Formerly a munitions depot and World War II POW camp, now a nature reserve.

  • The main entrance to the museum.

    Chiriaco Summit, California

    General Patton Memorial Museum

    A museum dedicated to the life and career of the gifted but controversial general.

  • A bunker frozen in time at the Westwall Museum.

    Bad Bergzabern, Germany

    Westwall Museum

    This museum in the small German city offers a unique glimpse into World War II history.

  • Wooden airplane in the woods.

    Oost-, West- en Middelbeers, Netherlands

    Imitation Airfield

    This fake airfield was built as a decoy to protect a real airport from the Allied Forces.

  • Králíky, Czechia

    ‘K-S 14’ Infantry Bunker

    Witness to Nazi occupation, this bunker has managed to soldier on to this day.

  • The Bugøy Cannon.

    Norway

    The Bugøy Cannon

    Commemorating the story of how a small Norwegian village escaped destruction during World War II.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.