The Horseless Carriage Comes to Pittsburgh

The weather in Pittsburgh was rather bleak during March 1896. Snow and sub-freezing temperatures were the norm. Nicer weather arrived on March 10, so two young men took that opportunity to test a remarkable new apparatus. Anyone who was on the streets of the East End that day caught a glimpse of the first automobile ever seen in the city.

This novel horseless carriage was made by William Morgan, a self-taught mechanical engineer, and Edward Walker, a machinist with the Pittsburg Railway Supply company. Morgan lived on Craig Street in Oakland and Walker resided a block away on Neville Street, so it seems likely that their test run was conducted in that neighborhood.

The vehicle was an ordinary Brewster sidebar buggy fitted with a 1 ½ horsepower gasoline engine. Morgan and Walker claimed they attained an average speed of 15 miles per hour during the road test. The duo apparently had high hopes for the future, as they organized the Empire Motor Company for making horseless carriages. The enterprise soon collapsed, however.

The first practical American automobile appeared in 1893. The publicity surrounding this revolutionary new mode of transportation encouraged hundreds of forward-looking entrepreneurs to design, build, and (hopefully) sell horseless carriages. Early automobiles were a varied lot, with electric motors, steam boilers, and gasoline engines employed by different developers. Like Morgan and Walker’s initiative, most failed.

The annual Pittsburgh Exposition in September 1897 offered attendees their first experience with the new technology. A version built in Chicago was displayed for about two weeks and hundreds of visitors were treated to rides. The Pittsburgh Press reported that it was “a great source of amusement and curiosity to the country folk, few of whom had ever seen the wonderful carriage in operation.”

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh business community was experimenting with the new contraptions. It was big news in April 1897 when the Eisner & Phillips clothing store applied for the first license for a motorized vehicle. Their steam-powered “motor wagon” would be used for customer deliveries. The store soon abandoned their plans, though. Within days of its debut, a gear chain broke while climbing a steep hill. This could be a major problem in as hilly a city as Pittsburgh.

The delivery wagon was a one-of-a-kind machine fabricated by Pittsburgher Joseph Haller. He was one of numerous backyard tinkerers who cobbled together all manner of eclectic motorized carriages based on their unique views of how to engineer the equipment. In his 1944 obituary, the Pittsburgh Press described Haller as Pittsburgh’s “First Autoist.”

Haller also has the dubious distinction of causing the first two automobile accidents in Pittsburgh. One of his early motorcars rammed the back of a streetcar on Penn Avenue near 19th Street. In a 1933 Pittsburgh Press profile, Haller recalled:

“I ran into the rear of it, damaging the car and also my auto. The street car operator got out, looked around and scratched his head as if he didn’t know what to do, and then got back on the car and left. I never heard another thing about the accident.”

Haller’s second incident was more serious. The September 29, 1897, Pittsburgh Daily Post headline said it all:

“WAS A DANGEROUS NOVELTY. Pittsburg’s Only Horseless Carriage Turns Twice in the Air, Explodes and Nearly Kills Eight People.”

Haller was giving a ride to the family and guests of William McCarthy, a well-known Downtown restaurateur who had a country estate in Squirrel Hill. On Beechwood Boulevard, Haller lost control of his creation and it plunged down a 25-foot embankment. It rolled over twice, the steam boiler exploded, and Mrs. McCarthy was knocked unconscious by shrapnel. The other passengers were more frightened than injured. This was the end of Haller’s experiments with self-propelled vehicles, although he was a lifelong inventor who held numerous patents across many fields.

A much more accomplished automobile pioneer was Louis Clarke, who founded the Pittsburg Motor Vehicle Company in late 1897. Clarke’s partners in this venture included his friend William Morgan, the same man who had demonstrated a horseless carriage in Pittsburgh the previous year.

Clarke was an innovator who originated many basic automotive technologies, including the driveshaft and porcelain-insulated spark plugs. His company built several experimental models in 1898, including Autocar No. 2, Pittsburgh’s first commercially successful horseless carriage. Clarke constructed a plant in Swissvale to build this style of motorcar, but before any were produced the company (renamed Autocar) relocated to Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

Several other automobile factories were proposed, but assembling horseless carriages in Pittsburgh rapidly took a back seat to their sales and service. While a few local agents for minor brands could be found here and there, the center for self-propelled vehicles was the East End, specifically around Baum Boulevard in East Liberty. Not coincidentally, East End neighborhoods contained the homes of many wealthy families who comprised the exclusive audience for these expensive “toys.”

The most prominent figure in early Pittsburgh automobile circles was Daniel Seely. In 1899, he constructed the “Automobile Theater” at the corner of Baum and Beatty streets. Seely sold numerous kinds, and his staff taught “chauffeurs” (as all early drivers were called) how to operate them. They also repaired those carriages that broke down. The building included a charging station where owners of electric models could replenish their batteries.

Seely was on the ground floor of the Pittsburgh automobile business; at the time he opened his showroom, there were probably only four motor carriages in the city. One was a handsome electric “automobile phaeton” of uncertain brand purchased by Clarke in July 1899 for driving around town while he was constructing the Autocar plant in Swissvale. Another was a Winton brougham model that Dr. William Stephens of Wilkinsburg began using for house calls in June 1899. Foundryman Joseph Speer acquired a Winton Phaeton car around the same time as Clarke, and the fourth machine was a flashy low-slung type designed and built by Alden McMurtry of Allegheny City.

McMurtry was a former bicycle racer who appreciated both speed and competition, so when an automobile race was proposed as part of the Fourth of July festivities at Schenley Park, he was the first to enter. The Clarke and Speer autos had not yet been delivered, so presumably the only other possible contender was the Stephens car. Dr. Stephens gamely agreed to the contest, afterwards acknowledging that his Winton “is not a racing machine and was simply put on to show the people an interesting event.”

The race fizzled out as Stephens’ Winton soon broke down. McMurtry covered the five-mile course in 12 minutes, 23 seconds, which is about 24 miles per hour. Setting speed records was a goal for many early drivers. In 1901, Henry Clay Frick caused quite a stir with his 42-horsepower Mercedes-Daimler that supposedly could reach 80 miles per hour.

Besides the few private horseless carriages traveling Pittsburgh streets before 1900, commercial vehicles were also appearing. H.J. Heinz introduced an “electric mercantile wagon” in May 1899 for deliveries to grocery stores, and shortly afterward the Pittsburg Express Company unveiled similar vans. Pittsburgh City Council soon explored the idea of using horseless vehicles for street cleaning, police patrol, fire response, and even for classroom visits by the public school superintendent, yet no action was taken until a behemoth “self-propelling fire engine” was put into service in 1901.

The growth of the Pittsburgh fleet was modest throughout 1900, but interest in automobiles (aka, “mobes”) exploded in 1901; by then there were seven dealerships scattered around the city. Manufacturers could not keep up with the demand. Because buyers had to wait weeks (or longer) for delivery of their specially-ordered vehicles, dealers scrapped that practice. They obtained train-car loads of popular models for display to potential customers.

This sudden enthusiasm for horseless carriages was verified in the June 29, 1901, special issue of the Index of Pittsburg Life that reviewed every aspect of the motoring fad:

“Pittsburg has to-day almost two hundred automobiles, and their number is increasing just as rapidly as the manufacturers can build them. Before the end of the summer there will be three hundred in use. The three types — gasoline, steam and electric — have each their followers, and they are the work of at least a dozen manufacturers.”

The gossipy Index (self-described as “Locally the Official Organ for Motorists”) closely monitored who was purchasing new “mobes,” which brands were popular, and what was available at the showrooms. The weekly publication even announced who had received building permits for installing “automobile stables” to protect their expensive acquisitions from the elements.

A major development impacting automobile usage in Pittsburgh was the March 1901 opening of Grant Boulevard (renamed Bigelow Boulevard in 1916) linking Downtown Pittsburgh with the East End.

Although Grant Boulevard was conceived during horse-and-buggy days as part of a network of scenic roadways connecting Pittsburgh’s parks, by the time it opened, the automobile was recognized as more than a pastime for mechanically oriented hobbyists. East End businessmen quickly realized that commuting to their downtown offices via personal vehicles on Grant Boulevard was faster and more convenient than riding streetcars.

A question soon arose, however: what to do with their carriages after they arrived Downtown. The solution has been the same down to the present day: locate parking garages in the business district. The first one (called a “storage house”) was established at 610 Wood St. by the Pittsburg Automobile Company. The company’s advertising cleverly noted that “two entrances have been arranged, the one in the rear opening out just at the side of the Duquesne Club.”

An impressive new sight in 1901 was “chauffeuses” (i.e., women drivers) piloting autos along Pittsburgh thoroughfares. Some also utilized Grant Boulevard for their Downtown shopping excursions. Mrs. Rachel Larimer Miller was the first Pittsburgh woman to own an automobile. She initially drove a Riker electric, and in April 1901 she purchased a Locomobile steam carriage. Other women learned to operate autos owned by their husbands or fathers, but Mrs. Miller is the first known to independently acquire a motorcar.

Besides Sunday drives through the parks, Pittsburgh automobilists began taking longer excursions into the countryside; trips to Butler or Beaver Falls were typical destinations. Some intrepid souls had journeyed to Erie as early as 1899. Long-distance automobile travel seemed almost commonplace by 1901, as quite a few Pittsburgh adventurers motored to Buffalo, New York, that summer to attend the Pan-American Exposition.

More arduous voyages inspired drivers to broaden their horizons beyond casual weekend outings. The 446-mile excursion from Princeton, New Jersey, to Pittsburgh, undertaken by attorney Harry Goehring and three companions in June 1901, received a great deal of attention. Described as a “pleasure jaunt” made for the “love of adventure,” the tour (including a 24-hour layover due to bad weather) took five days. Goehring’s odyssey proved that automobiles had greater endurance than even the most robust horses. It was not long before auto expeditions exceeding 1,000 miles were completed by other valiant Pittsburghers.

By the end of the 1901 motoring season, it was clear that the automobile was more than a passing fancy and that practical applications of horseless carriages for business, pleasure, and public-service uses were widely recognized. Although horses and wagons occasionally would be seen on Pittsburgh streets as late as the 1930s, it was obvious at the start of the 20th century that the automobile era had arrived.