09/23/2026
Imagine the places these wheels have been.
More than a century ago, someone climbed onto this seat, gathered the reins, and set off behind a horse.
Maybe it carried a family into town on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe it made trips down streets we still travel every day. Maybe it went to church on Sunday mornings, carried sweethearts out for an evening ride, or waited outside a Burlington business while its owner ran inside.
We’ll probably never know all of its stories.
But we do know something pretty wonderful about where its story appears to have begun:
Right here in Burlington, Iowa. ❤️
We’ve been asked to help find a new home for a very special piece of local history; a horse-drawn buggy bearing what appears to be its original metal manufacturer’s badge:
“Manufactured by Burlington Buggy Company, Burlington, Iowa.”
The buggy isn’t currently at the shop, but when we saw that little badge in the photos, naturally we had to go digging into its history.
And there is quite a story behind it.
The Burlington Buggy Company was established by Burlington businessman N. A. Keys in the 1890s. In April 1896, Keys purchased an existing carriage factory at the southeast corner of Third and Columbia Streets, with plans to establish the Burlington Buggy Company there.
There’s even a wonderfully specific bit of Burlington history surrounding its beginning.
According to historical research compiled using contemporary Burlington newspapers, Keys apparently delayed opening the factory until after the 1896 presidential election. He was concerned about the potential economic effects of the “free silver” movement and waited until after William McKinley was elected before moving forward with the business.
The Burlington Buggy Company was formally incorporated in January 1897.
And this wasn’t a little workshop tucked behind somebody’s house.
The company operated from a substantial three-story brick carriage factory at what became 418–424 N. Third Street, on the southeast corner of Third and Columbia.
Even the building already had a history in Burlington’s carriage industry. It had been constructed in 1873 for Bennett & Frantz Carriage Works, following the enormous fire that destroyed four blocks of Burlington that year. Bennett & Frantz manufactured carriages there for years before the building eventually became home to the Burlington Buggy Company.
By 1903, a national carriage-and-wagon trade directory listed Burlington Buggy Company as a wholesale manufacturer of light vehicles, with Keys as proprietor and the factory at Third and Columbia.
And business apparently grew.
A 1906 Burlington Evening Gazette profile reported that the Burlington Buggy Company employed approximately 75–80 people.
Just imagine that building for a moment.
Dozens of Burlington workers coming through the doors each morning. Wood being shaped into bodies and wheels. Metal hardware being fitted. Seats being upholstered. Vehicles being painted and finished.
And eventually, finished horse-drawn buggies rolling out of a factory in downtown Burlington.
This buggy seems to be one of those survivors.
Based on the documented operating years of the Burlington Buggy Company, it appears likely to have been manufactured sometime between approximately 1897 and 1920. We haven’t located a serial number or company catalog that would allow us to confidently give this particular buggy an exact year or model, so we don’t want to claim more than the evidence tells us.
But the photographs show some wonderful details.
It retains its tall wooden-spoke wheels with metal tires, wooden body, leaf-spring suspension and upholstered bench seat. Beneath the seat cushion, you can even see the old coil-spring construction and remnants of the upholstery.
And, most importantly for its Burlington story, that wonderful Burlington Buggy Company manufacturer’s badge is still attached to the wood.
The company’s history also happens to capture one of the biggest changes in American transportation.
By the 1910s, automobiles were rapidly replacing horses and buggies on American streets. Keys was still identified with the buggy business in Burlington’s 1916 city directory, but by 1920 he was painting automobiles instead.
And perhaps my favorite detail from everything we found is what was happening inside that old factory around the same time:
The building was occupied by both Keys’ buggy operation and the Iowa Haynes Motor Car Company.
For one brief moment, under the same Burlington roof, the horse-and-buggy era and the automobile era literally overlapped.
And somehow, more than a century later, this buggy survived.
There are antiques that are beautiful simply because they’re old, and then there are pieces that connect us directly to the place we call home.
This one appears to have been built by Burlington hands, in a Burlington factory, during an era when horse-drawn buggies still traveled the streets outside our doors.
Think about how much Burlington has changed during the lifetime of those four wooden wheels.
And now it’s looking for its next caretaker.
We are helping the owner advertise this Burlington Buggy Company horse-drawn buggy on commission. The buggy is not located at Burlington Vintage & Co., so it is not available to view at the shop.
If you are seriously interested in purchasing it, send us a message and we’ll get you connected with the owner for additional information and arrangements to see it.
We’ve intentionally avoided assigning it a specific model, exact manufacturing date, or claiming originality where we don’t have documentation to prove it. What we can document is the history of the Burlington Buggy Company.
And that little manufacturer’s badge tells us something pretty extraordinary about where this buggy’s story appears to have begun.
Right here in Burlington. ❤️
Because sometimes “buy local” means really, really local. 😉
