Getting There : Land2

Journey by Land :
Stagecoaches, Carriages & Carts

Stagecoaches
Road improvements led to the establishment of stagecoach lines after the Revolution. Service between Boston and Sandwich via Plymouth began in 1796. The journey took an entire day. The stagecoach left Boston at dawn, arrived at Plymouth in time for dinner, and reached Sandwich in the evening. Drivers changed horses every few miles.

Coaches had been carrying passengers between cities since the early 18th century, when a stage line between Boston and Bristol, RI was established. From Bristol the traveler could reach the nearby port of Newport, avoiding the dangerous trip around Cape Cod. In the 1770s travelers could take a stagecoach from Boston to New York, a week-long journey.

Stagecoach travel was difficult. The coaches had bad suspension and were not heated. Josiah Quincy described the week-long journey between Boston and New York: "We reached our resting place for the night, if no accident intervened, at 10:00, and after a frugal supper, went to bed with a notice that we should be called at three, which generally proved to be half past two, and then, whether it snowed or rained, the traveler must rise and make to help the coachman lift the coach out of a quagmire or rut..."

		Stagecoach drivers sat on the outside of the coach in all weather. One driver filled this jug with hot water (or rum) to keep him warm. Driving a coach could be a dangerous job. In 1841 driver Phineas Pratt was killed when loading a heavy trunk. When it slipped, he fell off the coach and struck his head. Coach drivers left from specific inns in the center of towns. In Plymouth, passengers could pick up the stagecoach at the Pilgrim House on the corner of North and Court Streets.
Stoneware Jug "Boston" potter, 1804-1810

Taverns were located every 7-10 miles, like Cornish’s Tavern on Sandwich Road and Hall’s Tavern in Sandwich. Other lines ran from Boston to Providence via Taunton.

By the 1840s, stagecoaches and steamboats competed for business. Plymouth historian William T. Davis recalled a race between the two conveyances when he was a young man. Both left Boston at the same time. With three changes of horse teams, the stagecoach reached Plymouth in under four hours, just as the passengers were disembarking from the steamboat!

Carriages and Carts
Carriages first appeared in Massachusetts Bay in the 1680s. Due to the poor condition of roads, carriages were used mainly for in-town travel by the wealthy. As roads improved, more people bought vehicles, both for personal travel and to deliver goods.

Styles of carriages changed with the times. Chaises became popular around 1800 or so. In the 1840s Senator Daniel Webster drove himself around Marshfield in a four-wheeled cart called a phaeton. Two-wheeled hacks were used in the 1870s. Public buildings like Plymouth’s Town House had hitching posts for people to tie their horses while in town. Those who couldn’t afford to own their own carriage could rent one at one of Plymouth’s many livery stables.

With improved roads, craftsmen and farmers could more easily drive wagons to town to sell their goods. Vendors traveled from towns like Norwell or Kingston down through south Plymouth to the Cape every few weeks.

Grocers used horse-drawn carts to deliver orders to customers. Horse-drawn carts continued to be used into the 1940s.