Carriage Step on Prairie Street
Columbus, Colorado County, Texas
Marker Inscription
CARRIAGE STEP ON PRAIRIE STREET A CARRIAGE STEP IS A BLOCK OF STONE OR CONCRETE PLACED AT THE STREET AS A COURTESY TO GUESTS STEPPING OUT OF CARRIAGES AND WAS A SYMBOL OF PROMINENT FAMILIES IN THE COMMUNITY. THESE STEPS ARE REMNANTS OF A TIME WHEN LIVERY STABLES, BLACKSMITH SHOPS, HITCHING POSTS AND WATERING TROUGHS LINED THE STREETS. IN 1879, THE ROBERT ROBSON FAMILY SOLD THE PRAIRIE STREET HOME TO R.S. STEPHENS, A RAILROAD PURCHASING AGENT, AND HIS WIFE, BETTIE THATCHER. THE CARRIAGE STEP AT THIS HOUSE IS IN THE ORIGINAL LOCATION AND IS THE ONLY KNOWN CARRIAGE STEP IN COLUMBUS. ALONG WITH THE WATERING TROUGH AT THE COLORADO COUNTY COURTHOUSE, THIS CARRIAGE STEP IS A SURVIVING RELIC OF AN EARLIER ERA. (2012)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A carriage step is a low block of stone or concrete set at the curb so guests could step down gracefully from a carriage, and its presence signaled a prominent household. This one survives outside a Prairie Street home that railroad purchasing agent R.S. Stephens and his wife bought in 1879. It is the only known carriage step in Columbus, a small relic of the age of livery stables, hitching posts, and watering troughs.
Why it matters
Humble streetside fixtures like this one preserve the texture of daily life in the horse-drawn era, a world of etiquette and transportation now almost entirely erased from American towns.
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Related people
- · R.S. Stephens
Themes & tags
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