Beers and St. John Company Coach Inn
Beers and St. John Company Coach Inn | |
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Location | 1193 Highway 6 |
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Nearest city | West Liberty, Iowa |
Coordinates | 41°35′11″N 91°19′44″W / 41.58639°N 91.32889°W |
NRHP reference No. | 16000130[1] |
Added to NRHP | April 5, 2016 |
The Beers and St. John Company Coach Inn is a historic building located west of West Liberty, Iowa, United States. The company was granted the U.S. Mail delivery contract between Iowa City and Muscatine in 1839 and began service in 1841. Beers and St. John and Egbert T. Smith built this two-story frame structure the following year. At the time, Iowa was still a territory and Iowa City was the capital.[2] It was a swing station where horses and drivers were switched, and it was a crossroads where the Muscatine-Iowa City route crossed with the Davenport-Iowa City route. Smith's wife died in 1854 and is buried on the property, as is a family who died while staying here. The inn closed in 1855 with the arrival of the railroad, and the building was converted into a house.
The basic design of the structure was a copy of Smith's previous home on
References
- ^ a b "WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 3/28/16 THROUGH 4/08/16". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ a b Alma Gaul (April 9, 2014). "History is at a crossroads near West Liberty". Muscatine Journal. Muscatine, Iowa. Retrieved 2016-04-18.