The impact and history of autos in Detroit, The Motor City
Here are some facts about Detroit’s auto industry.
- Charles Brady King was a “mechanical genius” inspired by what he’d seen at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
- King caused a stir when he drove his own car on the streets of Detroit on March 6, 1896.
For most people, the name Henry Ford probably springs to mind when they consider Motor City automotive pioneers.
But Ford, who certainly stands out among those pioneers, wasn’t the first person to drive a gas-powered car “of his own making,” as it’s been described, on the streets of Detroit.
Ford’s trip almost three months later in his Quadricycle was certainly notable, but Charles Brady King is the man recognized by the Automotive Hall of Fame, the Detroit Historical Society and other sources as the man who took that first drive in Detroit.
In fact, the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, according to a Hall of Fame article, described “the first horseless carriage seen in this city” as “the invention of Charles B. King, a Detroiter.”
King, a “mechanical genius and one of the most technically knowledgeable of the early automotive pioneers,” had caused quite a stir on the night of March 6, 1896, driving from his machine shop on St. Antoine onto Jefferson Avenue before heading up Woodward Avenue, according to the article.
“A crowd soon gathered, and became large enough that it halted King’s progress in front of the Russell House Hotel at Cadillac Square [in Downtown Detroit]. King eventually drove his vehicle back to the machine shop, only to be greeted by a policeman who threatened to ticket him for disturbing the peace,” the article said.
King, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, was inspired to design his car by what he’d seen at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, although there seems to be disagreement in a couple of sources about which vehicle or engine gave him the nudge.
King, who died in 1957, gets credit, too, from several sources for helping Ford with his Quadricycle.
“Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State” called King “one of the most interesting and likable of all the automotive pioneers.”
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
