By Tim Goodwin - Aug 1, 2017 | 1 comment

The Concord Coach that lives at the Concord Monitor was featured in the documentary, 'The Concord Coach: A New Hampshire Legacy.' Courtesy

The Concord Coach in the Monitor lobby is featured in The Concord Coach: A New Hampshire Legacy. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Did you know that Concord is world famous?

No, surprisingly it’s not because all of our fans take the Insider with them on lavish trips around the globe, but rather for the Concord Coach.

Back in its hey day, the Concord Coach was the ideal way to travel around the country – before things like trains and cars came around.

But for many years, the Concord Coach reigned supreme with orders going to all areas of the country.

And filmmaker Rebecca Howland wanted to give everyone a little glimpse of the history and importance of the early 20th century mode of transportation.

Since she moved to Concord about 10 years ago – and as a history major in college – Howland has wanted to know more about the Concord Coach.

“I heard stories about the Concord Coach and I thought it was interesting,” Howland said.

So last spring she set out to make her first documentary with the help of the Abbot-Downing Historical Society and what came of it is The Concord Coach: A New Hampshire Legacy.

The film made its debut earlier this month at Red River Theatres with a special screening, and is now in the midst of a one-week run at the indy theater. It is being shown in the Simchik Cinema twice a day (1:30 and 5:30 p.m.) through Thursday.

But if there is a big enough response and crowds are consistent, there’s a chance it will be held over for another week. But just to be on the safe side, you might want to see it by the last showing on Thursday.

“I always wanted to make a historical, Ken Burns-style documentary,” Howland said.

It’s a little less than an hour, but is jam packed with lots of information.

Howland mixes in narration with interviews done with C. Peter James of the Abbot-Downing Historical Society, Concord Coach expert Kenneth Wheeling, Tom Little of the New London Historical Society and author Gregory Nicoll.

“Most of them are members of the Abbot-Downing Historical Society, so they were folks who knew about it,” Howland said.

She actually wrote the script after doing her interviews. Through both, Howland gives you an indepth look at the start of the Concord Coach – when Lewis Downing and Joseph Abbot first got together and combined their skills.

“I knew zero about stage coaches when I started this project,” Howland said. “I just think it’s fascinating how well they were put together.”

You learn about how the Concord Coach was assembled and how truly impressive the construction was, considering so many still exist today. There are 160 worldwide and 20 in New Hampshire.

The Concord Coach came in three styles, six-, nine- and 12-passenger models, and were customized based on where it would be located.

As for the film, Howland did all the editing.

“It was nice because I could make it the way I wanted it to be,” she said.

But before we give too much away, we’re going to leave you wanting more; the whole point of this is to have you go see the film.

Tickets are $8 and for more information, visit redrivertheatres.org/2017/ 07/the-concord-coach-a-new-hampshire-legacy-simchik.

“Even if you’re not a history person but you’re from Concord, it’s interesting that everyone knew about Concord, New Hampshire because of the Concord Coach,” Howland said.