Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 24, 1909 In Detroit, eight businessmen met to establish a company under Michigan state law that would produce automobiles selling for less than $1,000. This meeting marked the start of the Hudson Motor Car Company. The company was named after Joseph L. Hudson, who was a Detroit department store entrepreneur and one of those eight businessmen. ... Continue Reading →
February 18, 2015 A newly built train station was officially dedicated in the city of Tukwila in Washington’s King County. (Tukwila is located just south of Seattle.) Tukwila station was constructed by Sound Transit (ST), a public agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area, as a replacement for a temporary station that had been at that... Continue Reading →
February 16, 1882 The iron-hulled Great Lakes freighter SS Onoko was launched from the shipyard of Globe Iron Works in Cleveland. The steam-powered Onoko, which measured 302.6 feet (92.2 meters) in length and 24.8 feet (7.6 meters) in height, was the first large commercial ship on the Great Lakes to be made of iron. Globe... Continue Reading →
February 10, 1941 A unique type of transportation for delivering mail via highways in the United States made its inaugural run. This means of mobility was the Highway Post Office, a large motor vehicle that had been specially outfitted to help process and move the mail as quickly as possible over long distances. The origins... Continue Reading →
February 4, 1883 Stephen Latchford, a U.S. diplomat who became one of his country’s foremost authorities on aviation law and a key influence when it came to that mode of transportation, was born in Annapolis Junction, Maryland. Perhaps Latchford’s birth in a community that owed its name to being a rail junction presaged a transportation-themed career... Continue Reading →
January 31, 1890 Not far from Long Island’s north shore, a lighthouse built on a shoal at the entrance to Cold Spring Harbor was first lit. Construction on Cold Spring Harbor Light had begun the previous year. The first keeper for this lighthouse was William S. Keene, who had been selected from a pool... Continue Reading →
January 24, 1809 The New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike Company was chartered in Delaware to provide a needed trade and travel route in that region of the United States. The original commissioners selected to oversee this company were George Read, James Riddle, Kensey Johns, James McCalmont, and Jesse Higgins. This company was likewise chartered in... Continue Reading →
January 21, 1881 On northwestern Oregon’s Pacific coast, Tillamook Rock Light – located about 1.2 miles (1.9 kilometers) offshore from Tillamook Head and 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the mouth of the Columbia River -- was first officially lit at 7:15 p.m. “The signaling is a success,” reported Joel W. Munson, who observed Tillamook... Continue Reading →
January 19, 1947 The Cincinnatian, a luxury passenger train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), made its official debut with regular runs between Baltimore and Cincinnati. The Cincinnatian was the first luxury train introduced during the post-World War II years by the nation’s oldest railroad chartered specifically for public use. The train was... Continue Reading →
January 12, 1933 The ocean liner SS Lurline left New York City for her maiden voyage. She subsequently traveled to San Francisco via the Panama Canal and then to Sydney, Australia, and other ports in that region of the world. This luxurious ship was the third Matson Lines vessel named Lurline. She also had the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 