Non-profit pays off mortgage on Aiken’s Gaston Livery Stable | Aiken Area News

The mortgage on an Aiken landmark has been paid off. 

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Coleen Reed, president of the nonprofit Friends of the Gaston Livery Stable, presented the final check to Security Federal Bank Vice President Josh Booth on Dec. 30. 

Reed said the organization obtained the mortgage in 2011 as they worked to restore the stable at 1315 Richland Ave. E. 

The group’s fundraising efforts included selling books and holding several events including a Dec. 6 gala. 

Jonathan Steadman had the stable constructed in 1893. It was a former full-service livery stable that played a significant role in the city’s transportation industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; it also was important to Aiken’s equine and agricultural history, according to the Friends of the Gaston Livery Stable’s website.

D.W. Gaston and his son bought the stable in 1909 and used it to serve their transportation — or livery — business until 1932. 

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After the livery business closed, the stable functioned as a barn for several decades.

The stable’s architectural features are notable, including a 10,000-square-foot brick building in a U shape. The symmetrical floor plan includes a center section with two wings, formerly stalls, that extend from the main building. The stable is one of only five livery stables in the U.S. with that design, according to the Friends’ website.

The west end of the stable features a manual carriage lift that is still operational. A symbol of Victorian ingenuity and simple mechanics, according to the website, the lift moved and continues to move carriages and equipment from the ground level to the second floor for storage.

In 2012, the Gaston Livery Stable was designated as an historical landmark in Aiken. The barn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020 and received the State of South Carolina Historical Marker in 2021, according to the barn’s website.