The Livery in Western Towns

The livery was an essential part of old Western towns. They rented horses, wagons, and carriages and boarded horses for those without a stable or barn or just passing through. A few were attached to hotels or boarding houses, but many were separately owned businesses. It wasn't until the automobile became common that liveries declined.

1880 Town in Midland, South Dakota, like most Western towns, had a livery. A privately owned business, it had a stable section for horses as well as wheeled vehicles, including wagons and different kinds of carriages. I can imagine the liveryman in an active town stayed busy and worked long hours.

Liveries have appeared in several of my novels. In Carmen's Wedding Dilemma, the hero owns a livery. When Holden goes to a horse ranch to buy some new horses for his business, he meets Carmen, who has a Spanish and secret gypsy heritage. You can imagine some of the problems that ensue, especially with his prejudiced mother. It has a 4.9-star rating on Amazon. Check it out.

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