Duncan McKenzie Livery Stables, Wabasha Minnesota
The Duncan McKenzie Livery Stable was built in 1887 on Lot 12, Block 4, Original Plat of Wabasha. In 1866 Duncan McKenzie and George Hayes acquired this lot from Nathan and Angeline Webb, and in 1882 Duncan McKenzie assumed ownership by Quitclaim Deed from George Hayes and James Lawrence. Duncan M. McKenzie had come to Wabasha County with his parents from Perth, Ontario in 1853. From 1858 to 1860 he had the mail contract between Wabasha and Faribault. In 1860 he established a livery and sales stable on Lot 12 at the comer of Main Street and Walnut Avenue and from 1860 to 1864 he and George Hayes had the contract for carrying mail between Wabasha and Rochester. During that time they also maintained a passenger stage route. Duncan McKenzie and Annie C. Campbell were married in 1861 and had seven children. By 1884, his busiiness had 15 head of horses and 10 buggies and carriages with a stable force of 3 men. The present building was built in 1887.
The property was acquired by Dr. William H. Lincoln on February 18, 1905 through a Deed which contained a restrictive clause whereby the buyer agreed not to use the property for a public stable. Dr. Lincoln was the son of Dr. William D. Lincoln, the second physician to settle in Wabasha (1857). Dr. William H. Lincoln graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago in 1881, and practiced medicine in Chicago. In 1886 he opened an office in Wabasha. He was elected Mayor of Wabasha in 1888 and founded Lincoln Hospital in 1890. He sold his practice in 1912 to Dr. W.H. Replogle, and died in 1914.
The use of the building under Dr. Lincoln's one year of ownership is not known. It was acquired in February of 1906 by the Wabasha Roller Mill Company and in 1943 by the International Milling Company which used it as a storage warehouse. It was acquired in 1986 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and was leased to the International Milling Company for storage.
The Duncan McKenzie Livery Stable was in its original location at 306 West Main Street in the northwest comer of Walnut Avenue and West Main Street. It is a one and one-half story brick structure clad with stucco and has a gable roof. It has a false front with two projecting parapets on the south facade facing Main Street. Fenestration is in the original location. The ground level has an arched window opening with altered infill in the center, flanked by an arched window in the left and a rectangular window and door on the right. The upper level has a large lift door with an inplace boom in the center. The door is flanked by rectangular windows on either side.
The west facade has four regularly spaced rectangular windows on the ground level. The rear or north facade has a single door with a transom style window above it and a single window on the ground level. The east facade which faces on Walnut Avenue has five rectangular windows and two large vehicular access doors on the ground level and one window and an access door on the upper level .
The interior of this building has been altered considerably. The upper level is laced with steel tie rods to control buckling of the walls.
The property on which this building was situated was needed on which to construct a portion of the approach to a new bridge to carry Trunk Highway 60 over the Mississippi River between Minnesota and Wisconsin. This building was demolished in early 1987.
