Carriage House

"Next Day cross'd the River…A Shocking Passage. Obliged to cut the Way thro’ the Swamp for 4 Miles, thro’ Canes, and impenetrable Woods— Had my Cloaths torn to pieces…With Man and Horse to carry me, where (after many Difficulties,— much fatigue, and suffering Hunger, Cold, and no Bed to lye on, but only the Ground) I arrived…"
Rev. Charles Woodmason, The Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution




Transportation in South Carolina was as varied as the geography. When not walking or horseback riding, people used wagons, carriages, trains, and boats. In many areas, including parts of Sumter, boats were as important for transporting people and material as trucks are today. This boat traffic gave way to trains that were in turn supplanted by others forms of transportation.


Manning Carriage
This gallery includes a c1928 dugout canoe used to ply the waterways of the Black River. To the left is a curtained carriage made in Philadelphia for John Laurence Manning c1850. In 1852, after his election as governor of South Carolina, Manning sold the carriage to Dr. John H. Furman of Sumter. Next to the Manning carriage is a hand cart used to transport goods.
On your right is a fringed surrey, c1900, manufactured by C.C. Snead & Son of Danville, Virginia and previously owned by the McLaurin family of Wedgefield.


Below is a bicycle once owned by Sumter merchant, Mitchell Levi (1857-1932). The bicycle is a Columbia model chainless safety bicycle manufactured in 1888 by the Pope Manufacturing Co. Although propelled by pedaling like a conventional bicycle, the drive train is totally different. Rather than a chain turning the wheels, a drive shaft delivers the power to the rear axle.