Spotlight on Collections: Antique Carriages

Formed in 1986, the Amesbury Carriage Museum’s mission is to champion the history of Amesbury industry and people and, of course, carriages. Amesbury was once the epicenter of the carriage industry leading to the city’s nickname of “Carriagetown.” It only stands to reason that the museum has a good collection of antique carriages.

“Amesbury designed and manufactured carriages and we shipped them all over the world,” said ACM volunteer Joyann Reynolds, chair of the ACM Collections Committee. “The vehicles we have are primarily made in Amesbury and the surrounding towns. That’s significant. It’s why we collect them.”

The museum currently has 19 vehicles dating from 1830-1850. They include 17 carriages, two of which are two-wheeled shays, and two sleighs. City Hall, Amesbury Heath Center, and the Industrial History Center each have one vehicle on display. The rest are in storage for rotating exhibits.

“In order to move the carriages from storage on Water Street,” Reynolds said, “volunteers push them. If we can’t push them because they are too heavy or have too far to go, we borrow a trailer to transport them. We recently brought a carriage to Amesbury High School by trailer for Trunk Or Treat.”

Amesbury’s carriage industry gradually evolved to auto-body making. The “Aperture on Amesbury” exhibit currently in the Industrial History Center explores Amesbury’s automobile landscape.

The exhibit includes photographs taken by community members of automobile body-making sites in the Upper Millyard and along Water Street. The mill buildings tell the story of the hard-working people of this town who continually innovated to evolve industry from textiles to carriage building to auto-body making.

Visit the Industrial History Center, open Thursday through Saturday - noon to 4 PM, to see the exhibit and to view the carriage photos in the Bailey Conference Room.