Franklin County, Nebraska

For Another Day

I received an e-mail from Don Versaw holding a very pleasant recollection. This is the perfect time to run this story from the depths of his memory. Don always sends me wonderful accounts of Bloomington, as he knew it many years ago. Last summer he visited the old hometown and we had a nice walk around main street. That hot summer day I enjoyed so much. The following is the e-mail from Don.

“Among other strange buildings and businesses that were once in the small town of Bloomington, NE was two livery stables. They were like huge barns. One of them was in the center of the village facing the old courthouse square. The other one was only a short block away. These establishments were for the tender and loving care of horses and storage of carriages belonging to visitors arriving for business or pleasure from more than a days ride distance.

“During the early part of the last century and at the end of the one before the need for such accommodations as livery stables slowly disappeared. The invention of motor powered vehicles sealed the doom for businesses dedicated to horses. The transition was slow. A time-lapse mental picture of main street Bloomington would show horse and buggy rigs fading away and an ever-increasing rate and old assortments of cars and trucks coming into view. Even so, some folks were still coming long distances in farm wagons, horseback and buggies. George Washington of Speed, KS, a town almost 50 miles to the southwest and his family of black folks were occasional visitors to the town. Mr. Washington parked his wagon along the streets and alleys close to good grass for grazing, tied his animals to its wheels and did his business. The family was as welcome as other visitors likewise and the merchants while perhaps curious were happy to do business with all of them.

“If there were other livery stables operated during the time Bloomington was the seat of Franklin County this writer is unaware. But, in the last of the 1920’s and part of the thirtieth decade the buildings were still there and are well remembered.

“Recollections of those old livery barns are still clear and bright but not serving in the business intended. Likely they were defunct before 1921. The largest livery stable was located almost exactly in the middle of Central Street between Main and Nebraska Streets. It’s big double door faced north like the jaws of a shark, large enough to swallow the biggest team of Percherons or Belgian horses pulling a heavy wagon to arrive in town. The false front, wood structure was covered with a dull, gray metal with stamped embossing effect to simulate the pattern of brick masonry. Its color and character gave it a distinction from most other buildings on the square.

“Entrance to the building was on the street level. Inside there was a small, walled off office in the northwest corner. The rest of the space was given over to park carriages, the storage of hay and feed grain. The accommodations for all the Dobbins and Old Gray Mares perhaps even an occasional team of mules on a lower level. There being no elevator access to the lower dirt floor; teams were led down a sloping lane at the side of the building to the alley immediately behind the building. The problems of handling the animals and carriages during inclement weather can be easily imagined.

“After ceasing to be a place to care for horses and carriages, the Main Street livery stable was put to other use. Perhaps the place had a different name; most likely it bore the name of the owner/operator. No vestige of signing is recalled. It was probably rented out for storage space from time to time as long as the roof shed water. In the very early thirties it became an airplane restoration shop where former resident and graduate, Lloyd Carr and friends gained fame and recognition for their work on the American Eagle OX5 biplane. Lloyd Davisson brought his family to the village and opened an automobile repair shop in the old gray building. That lasted until he was elected sheriff of Franklin County and like the county seat relocated to Franklin.

“The other livery stable was a large, two story barn located almost directly west of the present village firs station. Much of the ground it sat on was excavated to make the ballpark there. The alley ran in a curved fashion southward where it becomes Walnut Street at the intersection of Central. Needless to say that was a passage in the town to be avoided when it rained. The village streets were notorious and it’s no wonder that some stretches were paved over with concrete. The alley to the livery stable may very well have been one of them. However, the need for the business passed before the need for paving it became an issue. Paving the streets of Bloomington is a whole new story for another day.

“The writer only vaguely remembers the interiors of the Back Alley Livery. That’s what he would have called it if asked to do so. It was a dark, cobwebbed, spooky place with huge unpainted wooden load supports and beams running every which way. There were stalls for horses at the entrance level but if there was another floor below it is not recalled. Hay and straw were stored in the mow above. This accounted for dusty conditions lasting well beyond the life of the business. Another use beyond a livery business other than casual or storage is not likely. That may be accountable to its less than ideal location from the center of town even though only a stones-throw away. “ D. V. 2001”

For age it opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress, and as the evening twilight fades away, the sky is filled with stars, invisible by day. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Rena Donovan, For Another Day.

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