"The Challenge"

Hansen Wheel & Wagon was honored to have been chosen as the builder of the custom replica stagecoach for The Banning Museum. After nearly 2,100 hours, the intricately detailed Western Concord Stagecoach was completed the first of December!

It was put into place at its new home in the museum - just in time for its debut at their Annual Victorian Christmas Luncheon & Celebration on December 5-7, 2014. The "Challenge" also made its first public appearance outside the museum in the Wilmington Christmas Parade the following weekend.

This coach is especially significant to the Banning Museum and the history of Phineas Banning - the founder of Wilmington, CA - who ran an extensive network of stage and freight routes in the region. Hansen Wheel & Wagon Shop was commissioned to replicate the coach based on historic photos and documents provided by the Banning Museum in order to reproduce the coach that was constructed and used by the Banning family in the mid to late 1800's. Special construction aspects and design elements unique to the Banning stagecoach design were incorporated as identifying factors to the coach. The original "Challenge" stagecoach was built at the Union Wagon Factory in Wilmington, CA.