Youth & Family News - Horse-Driven Carriages
What happened when there were too many horse-driven carriages in cities?
Walking was the primary way that people got around most cities and towns in the U.S. before the 1800s. Once carriages and horses (along with all the carts used to haul food and other goods) became common, everything about city life changed.
Amesbury is well known for playing its part in the “golden age” of carriage making in the 1860s to 1900s -- when the number of privately owned carriages expanded rapidly. But we don’t think often of the practicalities of so many people owning and using carriages.
Each carriage was pulled by one or more horses, and those horses needed to be housed, fed, cleaned, and their piles of waste removed. In larger cities like New York, Boston, and London the number of horses skyrocketed. The sheer number of horses stabled in the cities, and the volume of feed necessary, and the manure to be removed afterwards created a crisis by the 1890s. Manure piled up in empty lots, the streets were crowded and often unsafe with carts and horses moving without rules or regulations. Accidents were frequent.
While not as dramatic, the number of horses within smaller cities like Amesbury also increased causing similar problems on a smaller scale. Near-by farms were most likely the destination for the manure, but other issues remained.
In particular, the issue of multiple horses with vehicles navigating streets meant for foot traffic was problematic. In fact, many of the most common traffic rules we associate with automobiles were actually invented to deal with the mess of horse traffic in New York City.
William Phelps Eno, a New York City businessman, is credited with coming up with the idea of stop signs, one-way streets, pedestrian crosswalks, and an ever-favorite of New Englanders -- the rotary. Eno’s rules were widely adopted throughout the U.S. over the next years and became even more important as the automobile became common in the early 20th century.
Next month, we'll explore more about the horse and carriage era and how automobiles were thought to be a solution to the environmental crisis that resulted from too many horses. Stay tuned!
Would you like to see some carriages from our collection?
Mark your calendars! On Thursday, June 23rd from 5:30 to 8 PM, we'll have a booth at the Amesbury Chamber of Commerce Block Party. We'll be exhibiting some of our vintage carriages and will also have kids' activities. We hope to see you there!
Were you at Family Day?
See all the fun that we had at the annual Family Day event: