Old Livery Stable is a term that refers to multiple historic stable buildings in the United States, several of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The most well-documented examples include structures in Fountain, Colorado; Cannon Falls, Minnesota; and Madison, Georgia.
Fountain, Colorado (NRHP #79000603)
The Old Livery Stable in Fountain, Colorado, is a historic stone stable located at 217 West Missouri Avenue. It was constructed in 1893 as part of a small hotel complex to accommodate horses belonging to overnight guests. The building is a nearly square, one-and-one-half-story structure featuring thick, heavy walls made of crude stone, with a dormer and cupola integrated into the roofline. It was designed in a vernacular, utilitarian style reflective of late-19th-century horse-based transportation.
With the rise of the automobile, the stable fell into disuse and decayed. The associated hotel was damaged by fire in the 1940s, was partially repaired to serve as a rooming house, and was later demolished to make way for new buildings. Only the stable remains. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. The NRHP nomination describes the stable as "a vestige of the life and commerce of an earlier day in Fountain" and notes that "the thick, heavy walls; the use of crude stones; the massiveness of the construction; and the integrated use of the dormer and cupola in a stable all reflect a time and a place where there was relatively little architectural knowledge."
Cannon Falls, Minnesota (NRHP #80002043)
A second Old Livery Stable is located on Fourth Street in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Built circa 1871 in conjunction with the opening of the Ellsworth House hotel, this structure is a utilitarian limestone rubble building measuring 26 by 30 feet, standing 1½ stories tall with a tin-covered gable roof. It provided accommodations for horses belonging to farmers visiting the town. It is the only building in the Cannon Falls central business district that survived the devastating fires of 1884 and 1887 and continued in commercial use, later serving as a furniture warehouse. It was listed on the NRHP in 1980.
Madison, Georgia
A third historic livery stable in Madison, Georgia, was built at the turn of the twentieth century and was one of four stables along West Washington Street that provided horses or mules for hire. In 1978, the building was converted into a hardware supply store. In 2014, it was rehabilitated into a restaurant (Amici Café), with two of three original carriage door openings reopened and fitted with storefront windows, and boarded-up stall windows restored. The project received an Excellence in Rehabilitation Award from the Georgia Trust.
General Definition
More broadly, "old livery stable" is a descriptive term for a historic building that originally functioned as a livery stable—a facility where horses, mules, or other draft animals were kept for hire, boarding, or sale. Such structures were common in 19th- and early-20th-century American towns and cities, typically located near hotels, commercial districts, or railroad depots. Many surviving examples have been adaptively reused as restaurants, retail spaces, or warehouses.
