WEST LIBERTY, Iowa — Once listed on the Most Endangered Property List, the Beers and St. John Company Coach Inn was moved Monday from its longtime location on U.S. Highway 6 to Heritage Park in West Liberty.
News 8's photojournalist Scott Weas tracked the building's journey three miles down the road to West Liberty with a drone.
The building will soon be restored and opened as a public museum in West Liberty.
According to the West Liberty Heritage Foundation (WLHF), the building dates back to 1841, before Iowa was even incorporated as a state. It was built by a new settler named Egbert T. Smith and used as a stage inn and tavern.
The WLHF said the inn was given a federal mail contract for the Bloomington (Muscatine) to Iowa City route. The inn was the site for regional communications, commerce and transportation. It is believed to be Iowa's last remaining rural, heavy timber framed, First Period stagecoach inn.
When the railroad arrived in Iowa City in 1855, the inn was closed and sold. It had been a private residence ever since.
Inside the front door, the three-story inn has a foyer with a staircase leading to four large bedrooms and a fifth smaller room for stagecoach drivers. The building occupies around 3,000 feet.
In 2016, the inn was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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