outhouse

Small white clapboarded shed with a closed door in the narrow alley between two larger outbuildings
photograph by Cindy Wilson

Outbuildings are rural structures that are too often lost, but at Casey Farm, their preservation is ensured and they continue to provide much-needed shelter for young animals and growing plants, storage for equipment, and essential meeting space for our education programs. Dating mainly from the mid-nineteenth century and the recent past, these buildings tell us much about everyday life on the farm.

One building that has an exact building date is the outhouse: Thomas Lincoln Casey recorded in his memoirs that he had it built in 1869. It can be seen in his son’s photographs of the barnyard and still stands today in between the Cow Barn complex and the Carriage House. It is a four-holer with a lower bench for children.interior