Then and Now: Model Stables
Livery stables, where horses were fed and housed on an hourly, daily or longer basis, were important businesses in early Spokane.
Section:Then & Now
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Spokane Public Library via the Northwest Room
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Jesse Tinsley
| The Spokesman-Review
Then and Now: Model Stables
Livery stables, where horses were fed and housed on an hourly, daily or longer basis, were important businesses in early Spokane. You could rent or leave a horse, get it fed or shoed, or rent a carriage, serving customers regardless whether they owned a horse. Livery stables also bought and sold horses, tack and animal feed.
Model Stables opened in 1889 just before the great fire that would happen in August of that year. The stable building survived the catastrophic fire and was quickly back in business.
A news story published May 3 in The Spokesman-Review said that the new building would probably be the most spacious livery stable in the region, standing three stories and, measuring 60 by 96 feet. The stable would accommodate 100 horses in a basement area, served by a ramp from the first floor, which was a short ramp up from the street. The main floor housed wagons and carriages. The third floor was for equipment storage.
The first manager was R.F Davis, a 20-year veteran liveryman and former manager of the Arlington Stables, just down the street.
Model Stables, along with other liveries, served as polling places in 1890 because few buildings were available in the wake of the great fire. Liquor retailer David Holzman put a wine and spirits store in the stable after the fire.
Early advertisements appealed to “horse fanciers,” the wealthier class who kept horses for pleasure and could easily cover a livery bill. Most of the horse business was with farmers and teamsters who used horses to move freight with heavy wagons.
Proprietors at the Model Stables changed often from its opening until 1907, when the business moved up to the 410 W. Second St., which put it in the midst of Spokane’s burgeoning automobile businesses.
The original stable on Main Avenue was torn down around 1907.
Automobiles, though not common on Spokane city streets until the 1920s, couldn’t be ignored by the livery businesses. Model Stables added the phrase “and Garage” to their name around 1912.
Under the ownership of G.E. Kitley, E.H. and B.J. Scott in 1918, the name was changed to “Model Garage.” The shop was later sold to D.M McCance and James Christensen of Rockford in 1928.
After the Model Garage name disappeared sometime in the 1930s, the Second Avenue location was used by REO Spokane Used Cars and White Truck Co. Today, it is a Dutch Bros. Coffee location.
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