Carriage House
Built in 1827 as part of the original Hart family property, the Carriage House extended a bit farther south with a wash house addition to provide laundry facilities for the Hart’s large household. When the property was divided in the early 1890s, the Cluett’s maintained the house, courtyard garden and Carriage House; the south garden lot was sold with laundry building to the Kemp family who built the current building on that site.
Since the museum acquired the Hart-Cluett House in 1953, the Carriage House has had many uses. Before the acquisition of the Carr Building, it served as the main public meeting space and exhibit gallery for the museum. After the major renovations of the early 2000’s, it was made into an accessible space for programming and for display of some of the larger artifacts in the RCHS Collection.
The items found in the Carriage House
The four passenger sleigh was built circa 1885 by the Troy Carriage Works for George B. and Amanda Cluett, the second owners of the Hart-Cluett House. The sleigh held up to four passengers and was drawn by a single horse. The Troy Carriage Works was located in Lansingburgh where it was established in 1884 by James K. P. Pine. It is likely that the sleigh was housed in this carriage house after the Cluetts moved to the property in 1893. When acquired in 1980 the sleigh required repairs to the sleigh body and upholstery. The sleigh was gifted to the museum by David Krashes 25 years after he bought it from Deborah Cluett. According to letters from David, Deborah had placed the sleigh outside leading to squirrels eating the velvet upholstery.
Made by Collis & Lawrence, New Haven, Connecticut and New York, New York. This private vehicle, one of only four similar vehicles that have survived from the 19th century, was a type used primarily in urban areas. This Coach was owned by William and Rebecca Howard, parents of Betsey Hart who owned the Hart-Cluett House with her husband Richard. The Coach, with its elegant upholstery and trim, silver plated door handles and carriage lamps, was drawn by two horses. A driver and a footman would have ridden at the front and back respectively.
When William Howard died in 1845, his widow, Rebecca, moved to Troy bringing the Coach with her. It was undoubtedly used for many trips around town over the 45 or more years it was on site. After the Hart property was sold to George B. Cluett in 1892, the Coach moved to Washington Park and the Griswold family for a few years. It next moved to Bennington, Vermont where the Shields family had a summer home, Furnace Grove. In 1962, the Coach was given to the Granger Homestead Society in Canandaigua, NY where it stayed until May of 2005.
This wagon body, marked “Green, Stillman & Co. Shirt Manufacturers Berlin/ N. Y.” “Vedder & Thrall. Sign Pt’rs Hoosick Falls, N.Y.” “ELCHO Trade Mark”, was once used by a shirt manufacturing firm in Berlin, NY. It would take piecework to farms and homes in the surrounding area and return finished goods to the factory.
In dating the wagon body, the firm that did the decorative painting becomes important. Vedder & Thrall, Sign-painters only existed in 1886 in Hoosick Falls. In that year, James H. Thrall is listed as a carriage painter and both Charles and George Vedder are listed as painters.
See images below for close ups of the details on the wagon!
Hung from the ceiling to accommodate its almost 29 foot length is another rare survival – the Waters Paper Boat Company single racing shell. Its hull, made by a patented process of laminated and varnished layers of manila paper, made this boat light weight and extremely fast for competitive racing. This shell was used by Bruce Hislop on the Hudson River until the 1960s.
The Waters Paper Boat Company, originally a box factory, began producing boats after George, son of factory owner Elisha Waters, took an interest in repairing boats with paper. These paper and varnish repairs led to George being curious as to if he could create a boat out of paper and varnish. In 1867 George and Elisha Waters worked together to create three complete boats, and to streamline their process. By 1868 the company was listed in the Troy directory as a boat maker and not a box factory.
The boat is best viewed in person due to its unique size and shape, come visit it in the carriage house!
The South End Tavern was established in 1934 by Marty Burke. He envisioned creating a friendly atmosphere in which the local mill workers could eat, drink, and socialize. In the 1930s, a bar was considered to be “men’s territory.” Since Marty wanted to accommodate female customers, he bought the building next door and converted it into a restaurant. To separate the bar from the restaurant, he put up the now-famous Ladies Entrance sign.
Marty passed away in 1956. His son, Marty (Bud), continued running the business as his father had done. Things ran much the same for many years until Women’s Lib hit the tavern in the early 1970s. Bud was ordered to remover the Ladies Entrance sign and allow women to be served at the bar. However, the Troy City Council stepped in; they passed a resolution declaring the South End Tavern an historical site. This allowed him to keep the controversial sign, but women were now permitted in the bar as well as the restaurant.
The museum’s major collection of Troy stoves and other decorative ironwork is on view in an installation that focuses on the history of heating and cooking technology, much of that history made by local inventors and manufacturers. From the second quarter of the 19th century and for the next century and more, Troy was one of the largest producers of cast iron heating and cooking stoves in the nation.
Each individual stove has intricate details that are both decorative and functional. See the four examples below, and many more in the Carriage House!
