Site of Gorsline's Fashion Livery Stable

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1889, a man named Edgar B. Gorsline packed up his life in Indiana, brought his wife along, and the two of them landed in Wichita Falls.

Now, Edgar wasn't the type to sit still. For his first two years in town, he ran a grocery and bakery, which is a fine enough way to make a living. But somewhere along the way, Edgar looked at horses and had bigger ideas.

In 1892, right here on this spot, he opened the Fashion Livery Stable. And that name, Fashion, wasn't just show. The place offered horses and rigs for rent, boarded horses, and, here's the part that tells you something about the man, carriages were sent to meet every single train that pulled into Wichita Falls.

Every one. You step off that platform, dusty from the road, and there's Gorsline's rig waiting on you. They also provided transportation for funerals, which meant Edgar was there for a town's most tender moments, not just its arrivals.

Before the automobile came along and changed everything, the Fashion Livery Stable was what you'd call vital. That word is right there on the marker, and it earns its place. Residents and visitors alike depended on what Edgar built.

He ran it until 1907, when he sold the stable. The structure itself was razed in 1908. Edgar B.

Gorsline, born in 1859 and gone by 1933, built something that a whole town leaned on, and then, like a lot of the things that hold a place together, it disappeared before anyone thought to write it down. Good thing somebody finally did.

What the marker says

In 1889 Edgar B. Gorsline (1859-1933) and his wife came to Wichita Falls from Indiana. For two years Gorsline operated a grocery and bakery. He opened the Fashion Livery Stable at this site in 1892. Horses and rigs were rented and horses boarded. Carriages were sent to meet all trains and transportation for funerals were provided. Before the automobile era, the Fashion Livery Stable furnished vital services for residents and visitors to Wichita Falls. Gorsline sold the stable in 1907 and the structure at this site was razed in 1908. (1979)