Bidspirit auction | Antique c1855 Hempfield Railroad Coverlet

Antique c1855 Hempfield Railroad Coverlet - Antique c1855 Hempfield Railroad Coverlet, measuring 77 by 87 inches. The center field features complex floral and leaf carpet medallions, surrounded on all borders by depictions of early number 240 steam engine locomotive and coal tender operated by an engineer. There is a hand sewn seam down the center. The Hempfield Railroad was chartered in 1850s to connect Greensburg and Washington, Pennsylvania, to Wheeling. The railroad relied heavily on community subscriptions. Local, unidentified weavers produced these specific double cloth Figured and Fancy coverlets either to sell to subscribers to raise money or to commemorate the arrival of the local line. An example of this historic textile is housed in the permanent textile collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.