Stagecoach was a horse-drawn coach used to carry passengers and mail on a regular route. Sometimes it also carried freight. The first long stage line was established about 1670 between London and Edinburgh, Scotland, a distance of 392 miles (631 kilometers).
Stagecoach lines were established in colonial America in the 1730’s. By the mid-1700’s, they ran between Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, and linked New York City with Philadelphia. In 1785, Congress began mail service by stagecoach. Greater comforts were added to the coaches, such as springs and cushions. Many of the finest coaches were made in Concord, New Hampshire.
Early in the 1800’s, travelers from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington traveled to Ohio by the National Road in Concord coaches drawn by six horses. They rode along at 10 miles (16 kilometers) per hour. The trip took 21/2 days. Horses were changed at relay stations every 15 or 20 miles (24 or 32 kilometers). Later, stagecoach lines operated in the West. But the railroads gradually replaced stagecoaches, except in remote regions. 
