MIfflinburg's Buggy Days
by Kelly Ann Butterbaugh
In Mifflinburg, Union County, some things haven’t changed. It’s a quiet 19th century town, and the sound of the blacksmith’s hammer can still be heard while horse drawn carriages trot up and down the street. At least, that’s what it looks like during the town’s annual Buggy Days Festival, a free to the public heritage festival sponsored by the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum.
“The festival began as a way to make people aware of the museum and grew into a fundraiser,” says Bronwen A. Sanders, Executive Director of the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum.
By opening the doors to its campus of buildings, the museum opened the door to something larger—a living history festival that fills the town’s streets.
An Ordinary History
“We have a history that is really ordinary, but at the same time extraordinary,” says Sanders.
Mifflinburg was an average town in the late 1800s in everything but its number of coachmakers. In one month Mifflinburg was known to produce 597 sleds, a feat that earned it the title of Buggy Town.
Visiting Buggy Days gives people a chance to see that extraordinarily ordinary past. Demonstrations and craft displays show the lifestyle of the town during the days of horse and buggies. On the front lawn of the Buggy Museum’s Education Center women dressed in period costumes gather to quilt while the smell of kettle corn fills the air; inside children enjoy crafts sponsored by the local 4H clubs. The streets are closed to traffic, and tables showcase craftworks such as spinning, weaving, chair caning, and tin work. Visitors are welcome to tour the Heiss home as well, experiencing the evolution of the American home as it added plumbing and electricity over its decades.
Here is where Nathan McKenzie’s stand sits facing the original Heiss family home. McKenzie’s stand is filled with racks of replicated antique guns and powder horns. He attends the festival not only with the intention of selling his replicas, but also with the intention of educating visitors about the antique guns.
Buggy Town
Buggy Town is alive with buggies once again. Children clamor into their seats on a large 100-year-old coach. The driver compares it to today’s station wagons and explains how the factory and repository are the precursors to today’s car dealerships. There, the Conestoga wagon, the mail wagon, and the racing sulky were the minivans, delivery trucks, and sports cars of today.
Buggies cannot be made without iron, and the tink-tink of an anvil and hammer calls visitors towards Bob Clark’s blacksmith demonstration. Beside him, wheelwright Bradd Mertz works to craft a new wheel for one of the carriages parked nearby. The heat of their work overshadows the heat of the day, and while spectators mop sweat from their brows Clark seems immune to the heat as he bends a piece of iron into a horseshoe.
The factory beside them is where William Heiss once made his buggies. Heiss was one of the many coach makers in Mifflinburg’s history, and the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum Association began preserving the Heiss Coach Works in 1978 after finding the factory and showroom exactly as Heiss had left it in 1920 when he closed his factory.
Beyond Buggies
“[The festival] has grown and shrunk, changed focus, and changed focus again,” Sanders says.
Buggy Days, like the town it represents, has changed over the years. Four years ago a Civil War reenactment joined the festivities, though to its visitors the connection between the Civil War soldiers and the Buggy Festival may not be obvious.
“The reenactment piece was crafted as a fundraiser for the museum and has come to be known as The Battle of Chamber’s Ridge,” explains Linda Estupinan-Snook, the coordinator of the reenactment and the owner of La Vieille Maison des Livres, a Mifflinburg bookstore.
Based on real events that took place in the area, the fictitious battle’s script was written by Corp. George Bowen of the 3rd PA Light Artillery, Battery B. The reenactment revolves around the story of a Confederate general who was sent to the area to seize army wagons, carriages, and leather harnesses from the plentiful buggy town.
This year the reenactment will separate from the Buggy Days Festival and take place in June while the festival moves to May.
“It was felt that each event drew a different crowd, and those who wanted to attend both were torn between each site,” says Estupinan-Snook of the move.
Like Buggy Days, demonstrations such as ladies’ teas, artillery firings, and dancing at the Civil War Ball are held at the reenactment. The renowned 97th Regimental String Band from Florida travels to Pennsylvania specifically for the festival and invites visitors to join the soldiers and their ladies as they dance to the Virginia Reel and the Schottische.
The Buggy Days festival is a chance for Mifflinburg to parade its history through the streets, literally.
If You Go
The 2009 Buggy Days will be held May 16-17 at the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum. The 2009 Battle of Chamber’s Ridge will be held June 6-7 at the VFW Fairgrounds in Mifflinburg, PA.
The Mifflinburg Buggy Museum is located at 598 Green Street in Mifflinburg. Hours from April-October are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Saturday; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. With the exception of special events, the museum is closed from November through March. For more information, call 570-966-1355 or visit www.buggymuseum.org.
