Donnelly-Van Brocklin Block

St. Paul, Minnesota, architect E. P. Bassford designed three buildings side by side in 1884: The First National Bank Building on the corner, then two identical business blocks. The twin commercial buildings were constructed for members of the bank’s board of directors, John Donnelly and D. E. Fogarty.

Mismanagement caused the bank to close within months of its completion, and scandal forced Fogarty out of town. Donnelly, however, continued to invest in Livingston, even as his work as a railroad contractor took him to Spokane. While the Masonic Temple subsumed the bank and the Fogarty Block, the Donnelly Block retains its original ornate brickwork, including one of two original pilasters.

Barber Alexander Van Brocklin purchased the building in 1904. He remodeled, adding the prismatic glass transom, large display window, and a rear addition that doubled the building’s size. He also installed a stairwell to the basement where he, and then his son George, ran a barbershop. Recreational businesses were the main floor’s primary tenants, including the Wrangler Bar, featured in the 1975 film Rancho Deluxe.