George Lee's Livery Stable in the 1890's

Pictured: George Lee's Livery Stable in the 1890's.  On the left are Lee and Tom Payne.  In the center buggy is Bull Hutson and on the right is John Payne and Abe Turk.

     In the days of old, the the livery stable business was one of the most thriving that was engaged in Bunker Hill.  One of the old livery barns was owned and operated by George Lee, who purchased it from Dr. S.F. Hale in 1895.

    In this livery barn, Mayor J.R. Richards kept some nice horses.  Mr. Bastien and Dr. Milton had some nice race horses which they also boarded at the barn.

    

Pictured: Phoenix Insurance Company calendar.  Many horses from insurance salesmen were boarded at George Lee's Livery Stable. 

    Back in those days, the insurance and other salesmen came into Bunker Hill, where they remained for several days before they drove out the team.  Matt Gaunt kept his funeral hearse in the barn.  Some of the Gazette-News' old readers will recall the two hotels, Goodalls and Mrs. Lee's, both of which always were filled to capacity.  Oil tanks were erected and mechanics came in all around to set up the condensery plant and equipment.

    A vinegar works by the Big Four tracks had several men with it, while the Wise and Mercer flour mill flourished following its rebuilding after the fire destroyed it.

    This livery barn was headquarters later for the builders of the hard road through Bunker Hill, housing office quarters, machinery, cement, and trucks.

...Read more about this and other Bunker Hill, IL historical stories at https://bunkerhillhistory.org/

--Cite this story: The Bunker Hill IL Historical Society. "A Look Back in Bunker Hill History." Bunker Hill Gazette-News, October 15, 1937, February 9, 2017.

Stanton, Carl L. . "Bunker Hill News 1937." In Bunker Hill Revisited, Volume Six, 1920-1940, p. 200. Bunker Hill: Bunker Hill Publications, 2003. Provided by the Bunker Hill Historical Society.