This two-story building has served many functions since it was erected as Frederick Barracks between 1777 and 1781.

The building served as a POW camp during the Revolutionary War, again in 1799 during the Quasi-War with France, and a third time during the War of 1812.

It also housed equipment for the Lewis & Clark expedition and was used at various times during that century as an armory and military academy.

One of the most unusual uses for the barracks was as a cocoonery for silkworms sometime around 1840, but this effort was largely fruitless. The cattle shows were far more successful.

During the Civil War, the barracks were used as a hospital servicing thousands of soldiers.

The name Hessian Barracks was coined by a local historian in 1945 in reference to German prisoners of war who had been captured and held here between 1782 and 1783.

The barracks still stand as a symbol of the shift from military to educational use.