The livery barn on this site was one of the first buildings erected by the Morning Star Mining Company because working horses and mules needed shoeing, harnessing, and grooming. These animals were essential to hauling people, zinc ore, and supplies, since the Buffalo River was too shallow to carry the ore by barge and good roads were scarce. Teamsters moved heavy loads by stock teams and wagons 25 miles over rough roads to Buffalo City, where the ore was transferred to barges on the White River for shipment to the nearest railhead. In the early 1900s, the railroad reached Yellville and Buffalo City and eased this freighting work. J. K. Lyons became general manager of the Morning Star Mining Company in 1925, and his wife enjoyed riding her horse, Red Bird. Rush resident Fred Dirst recalled that wagon hauls could be made as a round trip in a day by leaving early in the morning, returning home in the dark, and often bringing back supplies for local merchants.