Things with Wheels
August 12, 2011

This Mail Cart was used to shuttle US Mail from the Train Depot to the Royall Cotton Mill on the northern edge of town.

Mail was then sorted and distributed throughout the factory and adjacent commissary.  Originally the cart would have had handles and the large wheels allowed it to be rolled easily down the dirt streets of Wake Forest.

The cart is a gift from Mrs. Joyce Davis of Wake Forest and is included in the museum's exhibit on the Royall Cotton Mill.

We have had the doctor's buggy for some time now.  The one horse, one passenger rig dates from around 1900.  In an era of housecalls, the town doctor would have used it to see patients, traveling the rural roads to dispense medicines, make diagnoses and provide treatment.  The buggy, now housed in the Wilson Reception Gallery, is made even more interesting with the addition of an antique medical bag and cooling jug.

The buggy was located on Town of Wake Forest property and generously donated to the museum.


PAST BLOG POSTS
Wake Forest Historical Museum
Past Blog Posts.....

The mail cart's handles are now missing. They would have allowed an operator to push the cart, filled with packages and letters, from the post office to the mill at the end of North Main Street-- known in those days as Faculty Avenue. The doctor's buggy is in exceptionally fine condition and only required some heavy cleaning before being moved into the museum.The earthenware jug with wicker cover belonged to the Phillips family, who ran a store in the Forestville area in the 1800s.