In 1855, Ronald Campbell began a business that would last for nearly 100 years: the Campbell Carriage Factory. Located in Middle Sackville, this family business thrived in a small but prosperous university town. Until 1949, when the Factory finally closed, the Campbells served their community as honest, dependable carriage-makers. The popularity of automobiles finally pushed the Factory to close its doors and their two remaining employees set their tools down upon their workbenches and ëlocked up' as they would at the end of any other working day. Their tools, along with many other pieces, remained relatively un-disturbed until 1998 when William and Barbara Campbell donated the old factory to the Tantramar Heritage Trust, thus saving the building from demolition.
Originally built as a tannery in 1838 by John Beal, the structure was purchased and converted into a carriage factory in 1855 by the Campbells. For the next century, the Factory produced high-quality horse-drawn vehicles, tools, agricultural equipment, and caskets. Subsequent generations would branch out into both hay dealership and undertaking.
The factory is a two story post and beam construction, measuring 70 x 30 feet. It consists of four separate rooms, two per floor: The Woodworking and Machinery Rooms on the first floor, and the Storage, Assembly and Paint Rooms on the second floor. A blacksmith shop was also located outside of the building in front of the Machinery Room. Numerous original artifacts from each of these rooms are now part of the museum's collection. In its early stages, an actual horse(s) supplied power for the overhead pulley system. Annual production in 1870 included approximately 40 wheeled vehicles and 20 sleighs; this rate would later increase under Ronald Campbell's grandchildren.
