Barouche Barouche A barouche is a large, open, four-wheeled carriage, both heavy and luxurious, drawn by two horses. It was fashionable throughout the 19th century. Its body provides seats for four passengers, two back-seat passengers vis-à-vis two behind the coachman's high box-seat. A leather roof can be raised to give back-seat passengers some protection from the weather. "Barouche" is an anglicisation of the German word "barutsche", via the Italian "baroccio" or "biroccio" and ultimately from the ancient Roman Empire's Latin "birotus", "two-wheeled". The name thus became a misnomer, as the later form of the carriage had four wheels. This is an
Herdic Phaeton Company added from East Capitol and 11th Street to 15th and T NW in 1883. Other lines were added in downtown in 1886 along I Street, K Street and 13th Streets NW. The electric streetcar, however, was too much for the company to compete with and when its principal stockholder died in 1896 it ceased operations. Photo of a Herdic Omnibus and gingerbread waiting station at Lafayette Square in 1891. Two of the company's waiting stations, nicknamed "herdics", still exist on the Capitol grounds near the East Front. Herdic Phaeton Company The Herdic Phaeton Company was a late 19th Century horse