Louie's Buggy Barn
Main Street, Cedarville

Louie's restored buggies are always on display during the Modoc District Fair

“Louie’s Buggy Shop” is located on Main Street in the old Cedarville Garage Building. Stepping into its cool, dark interior can easily transport the imaginative visitor back a century or more to the town’s bustling early days when you traveled by horse-drawn wagons or buggies -- or you walked.

Vermillion collected each of the 22 pieces stored in the barn from families in Surprise Valley. He began in 1997 when he got permission to save a buggy abandoned near Duck Lake.

As he drove from Eagleville to Fort Bidwell on his job, Vermillion would ask about other neglected or deteriorating rigs he saw. Lately, people call and offer their family heirlooms to him for restoration or safekeeping.

Using mainly hand tools, Vermillion has brought back to life an incomparable collection that includes a hearse, a covered wagon, 3 sleighs, a freight wagon, and more than a dozen buggies.

Each year, Vermillion displays many of his wagons and buggies at the Modoc District Fair (where you’ll also find a collection of preserved local buildings called “Louieville”). The hearse was recently used for two funerals in Southern Oregon, and Bob Heard’s buggy made a trip to the California State Fair two years ago. Other pieces are occasionally loaned out for weddings and parades. And Louie always makes sure Santa arrives in true Modoc style when he appears at the annual Country Christmas Faire organized by Greater Surprise Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Louie’s Buggy Shop is located between the Cressler and Bonner Building and Cedarville Grocery.