Duryea Motor Wagon Company

The Duryea Motor Wagon Company, established in 1895 in Springfield, Massachusetts, was the first American firm to build gasoline automobiles.

Founded by Charles Duryea and his brother Frank, the company built the Duryea Motor Wagon, a one-cylinder "Ladies Phaeton", first demonstrated on September 21, 1893, in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Taylor Street in Metro Center. It is considered the first successful gas-engine vehicle built in the U.S.

In 1895, a second Duryea (built in 1894), driven by Frank, won the Chicago Times Herald race in Chicago on a snowy Thanksgiving day. He travelled 54 miles (87 km) at an average 7.5 mph (12 km/h), marking the first U.S. auto race in which any entrants finished. That same year, the brothers began commercial production, with thirteen cars sold by the end of 1896. Their first ten production vehicles were the first automobiles sold in the United States. Banking on the idea that future racing successes would propel their market share, The brothers entered two vehicles in Britain's London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Frank placed first and beat out the nearest competition by 75 minutes. As well in 1896, a Duryea motorcar had the unfortunate distinction of being in the world's first automobile accident, in New York City, when its driver struck a bicyclist and broke his leg. The driver spent the night in jail.

The brothers went their separate ways by the end of the century, over a dispute for financing that would have required moving the company to Detroit. Frank helped produce the Stevens-Duryea (at gun maker Stevens) until 1927, while Charles produced Duryea vehicles as late as 1917. Based in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was not uncommon for residents to see him motoring a brand new automobile from City Park out to Mount Penn, managing the switchback road as a final test of durability and refinement.

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