Existing comment:
Homestead Carriage House:
When not managing the Ironworks, Stephen Vail was often traveling in search of business. The Homestead Carriage House was his center for transportation. The main floor was used to store carriages for the summer and sleighs for the winter. Horses were stabled on the lower level with a door facing the farmyard.
When the building was built in the 1840s, a stone marked 1808, probably from an earlier structure, was included in the foundation. When the building was converted to a garage, more windows and a cement floor were added. Today, the main floor contains an exhibit that tells the story of the Speedwell Ironworks; a forge, foundry and machine shop of national renown. It was here that Stephen and his craftsmen produced machinery for paper mills and parts for locomotives. The Ironworks was also involved in many complicated projects such as the assembly of the engines for the S.S. Savannah, the first stream powered vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean. |