DIDSBURY – More than 100 years after it was built in Ontario, an historic Democrat carriage has found a new home at the Didsbury Museum.
The carriage was gifted to the museum by the Russell family during a recent ceremony and ribbon-cutting at the facility, which was attended by family members, dignitaries and others.
In a release issued by the museum, officials said the carriage was built by the McLaughlin Carriage Company in the early 1900s. It was brought to the Harmattan area by W.C.H. Caush in 1921.
Later the carriage was passed onto Dave Shoemaker and then to Scott Whiteside. By 1984 it belonged to the Russell family.
In the mid-1980s, Gary Russell and his daughter Mackenzie spent two years restoring the conveyance as a 4-H project.
The family donated the carriage to the Didsbury and District Historical Society last month.
During the official unveiling, Mountain View County councillor Alan Miller said the county is “honoured to be part of such a beautiful addition to the amazing artifacts at the Didsbury Museum. Visitors will be thrilled to view this up close and personal.”
Historical Society president Ray Kaczmer called the donation a “significant addition to the museum’s collection. We are so proud to have such a beautiful piece of history at the museum.”
The wagon is now the centrepiece of a display at the museum, with the exhibit made possible by a county grant through its rural community grant program.
Museum manager Dawn Stewart said volunteers “embraced this gift and put in countless hours as they prepared our agriculture room for this new addition.”
The Didsbury Museum has more than 10,000 artifacts in its collection.
