Sackville Harness Limited
Built in the 1800s, and holding the title of oldest building in town, the rustic wooden shop at 39 Main Street is now home to the Sackville Harness Limited, a supplier of custom-designed, handmade leather products.
The shop was opened in 1920 by a group of local businessmen. The craft of leatherworking and straw horse collar making was highly sought after in the day of horse-run farming. Fifty-eight years later, in 1978, Bill Long walked into Sackville Harness Limited looking for a job, and today he and his wife, Diane, own the shop. While demand for his craft has waned since the introduction of fuel-fired farm equipment, Long says his harnesses and collars still make up 50% of his business. Their clients range from as close as Sackville to clear across the county in British Columbia. The business is rounded out by sales domestic leather goods such as wallets, belts, bags and jackets.
"There aren't many handlers of leather these days." says Long. "From what I hear, we're the only ones upholding the tradition of long straw collar making in Canada". By all accounts, he's right. Not only are they Canada's oldest handcrafted decorative horse leather manufacturer, they are the only manufacturer of hand-made horse collars in all of North America. The shop has become a well respected part of Sackville's history. Tourists and visitors in search of historical attractions make sure their trip includes a stop at the harness shop, which has been featured on "On the Road Again", with Wayne Rostad, on MITV, and in the Times & Transcript. Their craftsmanship has even made it into a major advertising campaign. The team of horses featured in the old Budweiser TV commercials was fully decked out in Sackville Harness Shop leather.