Sylvester Roper with Steam Carriage
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Massachusetts machinist Sylvester Roper built at least seven steam-powered carriages and two steam-powered motorcycles years before automobiles -- as we know them -- appeared. Roper never produced his vehicles commercially. Instead, he exhibited them at circuses and fairs where crowds marveled at the self-propelled contraptions. Steamboats and steam locomotives were common, but steam-powered carriages were genuine novelties.
Massachusetts machinist Sylvester Roper built at least seven steam-powered carriages and two steam-powered motorcycles years before automobiles -- as we know them -- appeared. Roper never produced his vehicles commercially. Instead, he exhibited them at circuses and fairs where crowds marveled at the self-propelled contraptions. Steamboats and steam locomotives were common, but steam-powered carriages were genuine novelties.
Artifact
Negative (Photograph)
Date Made
1971
Subject Date
1865
Keywords
Collection Title
On Exhibit
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
EI.1929.N.B.81500
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Dimensions
Height: 5 in
Width: 4 in
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