The Richland Album: Horse Power

This is the law of time: for every hour we go on, there is an hour that slips behind; so that for every bit of gain there is equal loss. In order to enter the future we must relinquish the past.

As each generation creates its own new version of America, so the old way, the old style, passes into history; and as each wave of people takes the stage to witness a particular and unique new story, so it watches the putting away of sets and scenery and props from the play just concluded.

This series of photo essays takes a look at landmarks from the past that were once common and familiar components of the landscape to Richlanders long since passed on. A hundred and fifty years ago folks couldn’t really imagine a county without covered bridges, without hitching posts, without livery stables. Today the only way there is to picture these sights is with our virtual Richland Album.

This collection of images from the virtual album features the age of transportation before the rise of automobiles: when our roads were made to be traveled by horse power.

Our history as Richlanders, and our heritage as humans, could never have progressed past the most menial stages of work and travel if it had not been for the acquiescence and assistance of horses.

There is no saying what we owe them. In today’s society, horses are marginally noticeable: at the racetrack, on the trail, lounging in the field; but 150 years ago, our society simply could not have functioned without them.

One of the principal red-letter days in county history was when the first horse drawn stage coach successfully negotiated its way through the wilderness from Mount Vernon to Mansfield in 1815; officially networking Richland into the United States.

From that point on, humankind and horsekind were inseparable partners for many generations.