OLD LANDMARK BEING REMOVED
Used by Western Stage Company
With the tearing down of the old brick livery barn on Scott Street, in the rear of the site of the old Nonpareil building, one of the oldest as well as one of the most historical structures in Council Bluffs, is made a thing of the past. The structure antedates the arrival of railroads to Council Bluffs and is one of the few old buildings around which the memory of the old timer clusters.
The barn, constructed of brick upon a frame of hand hewed cottonwood timber, was built just after the construction of the old Pacific House, probably about 1854. For a number of years it was the headquarters of the Western Stage Company, and Governor Bates, now deceased, was manager of the concern. The stages, which ran from Council Bluffs to Des Moines on the old stage route, all started from this barn for their trips eastward overland. This same company also maintained a stage connection over the ferry between Council Bluffs and Omaha.
With the removal of the barn to make way for the new Nebraska Telephone Building, the old settlers will recall the men whose lives were connected with the barn, and the uses to which it as put. Here worked Wes Jackson, who was the chief horseshoer for the stage company, and later was made chief of police of the city. Governor Bates, the manager of the company's business here, was in 1864, mayor of the city. The drivers for the stage company, Jim Brooks, Fred Stebbler, John Anderson and a score of others were identified, with the barn in its prime. Stebbler is still living and resides at the Neumeyer. John Anderson is a resident of Silver Creek Township.
After the approach of the iron tracks of the railroad toward the city, culminating in railroad connections between Council Bluffs and the east, the stage company went out of existence and the barn was turned over for livery purposes.
For nearly forty years the building has been used for livery and feed purposes. When razed to the ground the material in the building was found still to be in good condition. The huge cottonwood timbers had not yet shown the marks of decay and the brick, made in the early days near Council Bluffs by the hand process were still hard and solid.
[Nonpareil, Published June 7, 1903—submitted by Ann]
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