Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
November 13, 1927 The Holland Tunnel was opened to traffic in the New York metropolitan area just one minute after midnight. This highway conduit, which runs beneath the Hudson River and connects New York City’s island of Manhattan with Jersey City, New Jersey, was the first twin-tube underwater vehicular tunnel in the United States. The tunnel... Continue Reading →
November 9, 1895 The last horse-drawn streetcar in Detroit made its final run. Banners on each side of the vehicle read “The last horse car.” Two horses pulled it along the Chene Street line, which was the last of Detroit’s streetcar routes to be equipped with electric streetcars. “Detroit takes final leave of the horse... Continue Reading →
November 7, 1910 The first commercial air freight shipment occurred in Ohio between the cities of Dayton and Columbus. Max Morehouse, owner of the Columbus-based Morehouse Martens department store, asked aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright for help in transporting to him by air a 100-pound (45.4-kilogram) shipment of silk from a wholesaler in Dayton... Continue Reading →
November 6, 1818 In northwestern Pennsylvania, a lighthouse in the borough (now city) of Erie began operations when keeper John Bone lit the oil wick in the new structure. The lighthouse had been built on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie and was specifically located across the water from Presque Isle, a seven-mile (11.3-kilometer)-long peninsula that... Continue Reading →
November 5, 1896 The Cascade Locks and Canal, which were built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, officially opened on the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. The key reason for the navigation project was the need for more efficient and uninterrupted transportation along the Columbia River to help further develop the economic well-being of... Continue Reading →
November 1, 1895 The American Motor League (AML), the first automobile club in the United States, held its preliminary meeting in Chicago. A total of 60 people were at the meeting, which took place at the Chicago School of Electricity on Dearborn Street. The new club’s main objectives included promoting continued technological innovations for automobiles, which were... Continue Reading →
October 31, 1913 The official dedication of the Lincoln Highway took place in the form of numerous ceremonies and other celebrations nationwide, notably in the hundreds of cities and towns along the approved route for the planned transcontinental thoroughfare for motor vehicles. “Cities en Route From Coast to Coast Mark Opening of Great Rock Road,”... Continue Reading →
October 30, 1919 Tony Pizzo pedaled into New York City on his bicycle to conclude one of the more unique coast-to-coast journeys using that mode of transportation. Pizzo, who had completed a stint with the U.S. Navy earlier in the year, began his transcontinental trek in California during the spring. He and C.J. Devine, another recently discharged... Continue Reading →
October 26, 1825 The Erie Canal was fully opened to boat traffic. The 363-mile (584-kilometer) inland waterway, connecting Lake Erie to New York City via the Hudson River, was built to provide a faster and more direct means of transportation between the Eastern seaboard and the vast areas of land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Prior... Continue Reading →
October 25, 1904 The first successful flight of a dirigible (a type of airship) in the United States occurred when aviator and aeronautical engineer A. Roy Knabenshue flew the “California Arrow.” He took to the skies in that cigar-shaped dirigible from the World’s Fair (officially known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition) in St. Louis, Missouri.... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 