Congleton Buggy Works

The Congleton Buggy Works, currently the Franklin restaurant, is an authentic reconstruction of the original building that burned down on January 27, 1979.

George Congleton, his wife Susan, four daughters and mother-in-law, traveled from New Jersey. In 1849, he opened a blacksmith shop and carriage business in Franklin. The shop was actually a pair of two-story buildings. 

The second floor of the front building was used for painting buggies. There was a ramp outside which helped raise and lower wagons by a pulley system.

On the lower floor of the front building was a forge where the blacksmith worked. Buggies and wagons were built in the rear of the building.

The original anvil, bellows, wheelwright bench, and assorted tools are an exhibit at the Franklin Historical Society Museum at 26165 Thirteen Mile Road at Kirk Lane. Museum hours are Saturdays from 1 – 3 P.M.

Richard Cummings Ad

Richard Cummings was an Englishman born in 1852.

Around 1880, he became the new tenant of the Congleton Buggy Works, now a restaurant called the Franklin.

As his business card tells us, he was a manufacturer of carriages, wagons and sleighs.

He used the rear building for cabinet and general wagon repair and leased the front of the building to a blacksmith. The top floor was for painting
buggies.