It’s kind of morbid, but House Crazy Sarah is smitten with these creepy old things. She’s smitten with most creepy old things (except creepy old men), but she has a soft spot for these relics from the past.
She saw her first antique horse drawn hearse in person a few years back when she was visiting a museum in Creede, Colorado.
Her children wanted to climb all over it but of course, House Crazy Sarah threatened their existence/next ice cream cone if they so much as laid a finger on the poor old thing.
Since then, she has kept her eye out for authentic horse drawn hearses (modern reproductions don’t cut it).
Most surviving funeral carriage hearses reside in small town museums. Often, such towns had only one cherished horse drawn hearse to transport all the dead people so they were preserved as a local keepsake, like this one below in the small town of Castroville, Texas.
Isn’t it beautiful?
Perhaps House Crazy Sarah might buy one for herself. But what would she do with it? Her living room is too small and she wouldn’t want to leave it out in the yard where the squirrels and birds would peck away on it.
Heck, that doesn’t keep her from browsing online!
Let’s see what’s on the market these days for horse drawn funeral carriages…
This well-preserved hand-carved 1870’s hearse carriage (above) is listed for sale for $7,650.00 in Medford, Oregon.
The worn specimen (above) is an 1875 Cunnigham & Sons model for sale for $6,500.00 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Prices can go quite high for these things. Look at this one listed for sale (below) on Ebay for $18,000!
The listing says it comes with the “double-door early 1900’s casket” which can be seen in the photo. Doesn’t say if it’s a used casket or not but, bonus!
And for those unlucky souls who died in snowy season, they also made a sleigh version of the horse drawn hearse with sled runners instead of wagon wheels:
There’s an 1880 sleigh hearse for sale in Angola, Indiana for $16,000.00! (below)
If you are dying for a ride in one of these things (a little hearse humor), there are many private operators and even funeral homes who offer the service in modern replica horse-drawn hearses.
Still, House Crazy Sarah prefers the Victorian-era version, even if they are a little worse for the wear these days.
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Lol,great post
I’m looking for my great grandfather’s (Turner Netherton) horse drawn hearse from the Moss or Celina area of TN. Any idea of how I may be able to locate it?