Brake for early automotive history in Geneva, Ohio

What is this photograph of my Aztek in front of an auto parts store doing in a travel blog?

When people include a photo like this with their travel photos, you usually figure you're in for a story about car troubles on the road.

But take another look.

The real question here is--Why is there a historical marker in front of this auto parts store in Geneva, Ohio?

I asked myself the same question as we drove through Geneva recently and spotted the sign on the side of busy Route 20 through town.

We'd gone for a couple of days out along Lake Erie at the end of the summer to check out some lighthouses and for a last couple of days out of town before the busy fall season started with school, work and hockey at home.

Traveling along Route 20 to avoid yet another dull ride along the Ohio Turnpike, I saw this marker and insisted Tim turn around and pull into the auto parts store lot.

Imagine our surprise when we found out that we were visiting the birthplace of an automotive pioneer we usually associated with Lansing, Michigan!

Ransom Eli Olds received the first patent in the United States awarded for an "automobile carriage" in 1896 and was first to create an automotive assembly line in 1901.

Olds Motor Vehicle Company launched in Lansing after Olds teamed up with investor Edward Sparrow in 1897. The company moved to Detroit a few years later when other investors insisted the company relocate there because it was a busy manufacturing center for carriages and other products.

Olds himself moved back to Lansing when he moved some of his production back to that city in 1905. Lansing embraced Olds, who was active in the city's social and business scene, by celebrating his birthday each year.

Ransom E. Olds died at home in Lansing on August 26, 1950. HIs wife Metta became ill at his funeral and died a few weeks later.

But long before Lansing claimed Olds as their own, Pliny and Sarah Olds bought a home in Geneva a year before the birth of their youngest child--Ransom Eli. Pliny Olds was a blacksmith and had a shop behind this home where he teamed up with "an experienced steam man" (according to this marker) named O.W. Price to manufacture small steam engines. Pliny parleyed success with this business to open a machine shop in Lansing when his youngest child was still in his teens.

Young Ransom (born June 3, 1864) proved gifted when it came to things mechanical and became a manager at P.F. Olds and Son in 1880. He quickly became a partner in the business and began developing a lot of his experimental ideas for steam and gas engines.

Ransom Olds' subsequent development of his horseless carriages, and founding of the automobile company that became the forerunner of the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors when GM bought the Olds Motor Works in 1908, began at his father's business. The Oldsmobile name lived on for over 100 years, until GM discontinued the brand in 2004.

Michigan celebrates Ransom E. Olds and his connection to the state with a historical marker in Lansing near the site where production of Olds' famous curved dash Oldsmobile Runabout took place. This particular model car, incidentally, inspired the song, "In My Merry Oldsmobile". This site also houses the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum--and another idea for a road trip for us!

And that is why there is an Ohio historical marker celebrating the accomplishments of an automotive pioneer placed, appropriately or ironically enough, in front of this auto parts store!

© Dominique King 2009 All rights reserved

Things To Do
Geneva

Comments

[Steve Davis]

Fascinating post. Goes to show we should all be taking note of these markers when we see them. Makes for great stories.

One of Olds' more famous early car lines was known at the "REO" which of course was taken from Ransom's initials. One rock group from the 1980's called themselves REO Speedwagon after one model of the car line. See told you there are lots of stories behind these things. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Steve

[Dominique]

Steve-I saw the sign and had to stop! Tim's a history grad student (going back to finish his degree after a long lay off from school), and local history always fascinates me as well.
I wasn't sure if the sign's placement was more appropriate...or more ironic...but I could appreciate it on both levels.
Following up on interesting stories like this is one of the things that makes writing Midwest Guest so much fun for me :)
I remember REO Speedwagon and knew of the name's connection to Olds, too. It's something that was mentioned a lot around here in the Detroit area at the time because of the automotive connection.

[Royal Feltner]

Ransom E.Olds first automobile was the Oldsmobile in 1897 in Lansing, MI. In 1903, he left the company because of a dispute with the management and in 1904, started the REO Automobile Company also in Lansing. These were two different companies that produced fine automobiles. The first assembly line for the automobile industry was by Hume Cariage Company in Amesbury, MA. He had been using this method since 1858 and continued when he started making bodies for The Grout Automobile in 1896. Ransom Olds could rightfully be called the Father of the American Automobile Industry. These markers are a great reminders of history that should not be forgotten. Thanks for showing this one

[Dominique]

Royal-Thanks for stopping by! I was fascinated to learn a bit more about Ransom E. Olds when I started researching this story--he really was quite the unsung automotive pioneer.
I'm always curious when I spot the historical markers along the road, and this one really caught my eye because of its location in the auto parts' store's lot. I had to turn back and check it out!
Interesting site you have about early automotive history, too.

[Fog Light]

Nice car.I love this.

[Dominique King]

Fog Light-I thought this was kind of a fun post, too. Thanks for stopping by!