The Penrose Heritage Museum and their Abbott Downing Coaches from Concord, New Hampshire

The Penrose Heritage Museum is located at the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Yesterday I blogged about the weathervane at the hotel, and today I have photos from the museum, especially the two Abbott Downing coaches on exhibit.

Originally this little museum was "The Carriage House Museum" and it featured many antique carriages and coaches, some used by the hotel to transport guests and others were just collected by the Penrose family who owned the hotel.  In 2005 this museum was expanded to include the collection of antique automobiles used in the Pikes Peak Climb.  The museum also has Native American artifacts on the second floor.

This Concord Coach was built around 1857 by the Abbott Downing Company in Concord, New Hampshire.  Before the railroads, Concord Coaches were popular transportation in the American West.  You have seen them in Western movies, but there are very few of these original Concord Coaches on display in museums.  There are two at this museum in Colorado Springs.

This second coach was built by Abbott Downing in Concord around 1895.  The "Yellowstone" model coach was a sightseeing carriage used in Yellowstone National Park.  In the 1890s this wagon was used at the hotel for excursions to tourist spots like Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods.  William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody bought this wagon in the 1890s for $1,800 (quite a sum in those days!) and used it to entertain guests at his Pahaska Tepee Ranch near Cody, Wyoming. His notable guests included President Teddy Roosevelt, millionaire "Diamond Jim" Brady, and members of European royalty. 

Here are some of the other objects on display at the museum:

Goat Cart for children

The Penrose Heritage Museum:   http://ppihc.org/penrose-heritage-museum-fans/ 

The Broadmoor Hotel: https://www.broadmoor.com/ 

Previous posts about the Abbott Downing Company that built Concord Coaches in New Hampshire:

A weathervane from Concord (with a history of the Abbott Downing Company)
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/weathervane-wednesday-stagecoach.html 

A weathervane with a connection to the Abbott family:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/weathervane-wednesday-brought-to-you-by.html 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Penrose Heritage Museum and their Abbott Downing Coaches from Concord, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 26, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-penrose-heritage-museum-and-their.html: accessed [access date]).