Greenfield Village Open-Air Museum

Why the three names for this tiny structure? Well, when originally built, this hearse shed stood next to a graveyard on Bootland Hill in Newton, New Hampshire. There are differing opinions to when it was built; the placard in Greenfield Village states that it was built in the early 19th century, but a list I obtained from the Benson Ford Research Center gives its original date of construction as 1850. Either way, this building deals with a subject that most other historical villages rarely touch upon: death. The rate of deaths in the 19th century was great, especially for infants and toddlers. Much more than in our modern times, death was considered a fact of life and was dealt with quite differently than we do today. To carry the body from the place where it lay in state (usually in the parlor of the home of the deceased), the coffin was carried by pall bearers to the final resting place (more than likely the church graveyard), or, if the graveyard was too long a journey, a horse-draw...