Alvan Markle
| Alvan Markle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | August 29th, 1861 Hazleton, Pennsylvania |
| Died | March 19th, 1931 Hazleton, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Banker, Businessman, Engineer, and Inventor |
| Known for | regional transportation systems, electric power, extraction technologies, electric third rail |
Alvan Markle (August 29, 1861−March 19, 1931) was an American banker, businessman, engineer, and inventor based in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. He was the son of George Bushar Markle (1827-1888), a rural carpenter and ingenious inventor who became a successful banker and coal operator. Alvan was the brother of John Markle, who established the John and Mary Markle Foundation. Alvan, his father, and his brothers were instrumental in making Hazleton a financial and industrial hub through their inventions and their initiative in establishing regional transportation systems, electric power, extraction technologies, as well as social and educational institutions.
When his father became ill in 1879, Alvan Markle left Lafayette College at the age of 18 and joined his brothers in learning and managing the family businesses. In 1882, they collaborated with Thomas Edison to build the world’s sixth urban power plant in Hazleton, marking the city as a pioneer in electric power. Over the following decade Alvan Markle built the city’s first electric public transportation system; by 1892 his trolley lines linked 17 isolated outlying colliery villages to the city and to 40-acre Hazle Park (set aside in 1861 by the Markle family), a notable public amenity with lake and picnic grounds that he developed as a popular amusement park.
In 1899 he established an electric high speed rail line that linked the Hazleton area to the county seat of Wilkes-Barre, devising the revolutionary protected third rail system adopted nationwide by urban transportation systems and standard technology to this day. From 1886 to 1929 he managed the family banking concern, buying out his brothers in 1892, and erecting the 11-story Markle Bank and Trust Company Building in Hazleton in 1910, designed by John Irwin Bright. Constructed to be fireproof, this landmark structure acquired a prominent rooftop electric sign and a 6-story addition in 1923, and is a National Register of Historic Places site). He was also instrumental in establishing telephone service in the region.
...
Wikipedia