Steam and the inexpensive electricity it could produce brought about dramatic technical growth in the United States. Developed during the last century, reliable and efficient steam engines were the forerunners of today's massive generating facilities. A rare survivor of the period, the Pratt facility is the oldest generating plant of its kind in the Northeast and embodies the typical features of engines in a row, open-front marble switchboard, and an observation balcony at street level.
USA
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Public Domain (National Park Service)
Image Caption:
Pratt Institute Power Plant
Era_date_from:
1887
1977
"Electricity produced here in the spring of 1891 was transmitted 2.6 miles over rugged and at times inaccessible terrain to provide power for operating the motor-driven mill at the Gold King Mine. This pioneering demonstration of the practical value of transmitting electrical power was a significant precedent in the United States for much larger plants at Niagara Falls (in 1895) and elsewhere. Electricity at Ames was generated at 3000 volts, 133 Hertz, single-phase AC, by a 100-hp Westinghouse alternator."
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Wikipedia/Ray Wood (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Image Caption:
The Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant, and behind it the trees of the Uncompahgre National Forest
Era_date_from:
1891
1988
A bridge across the Hudson at or near Poughkeepsie was planned starting in the early 1870s to primarily carry coal from the coalfields of northeastern Pennsylvania to New England. At the time there were no bridges between Albany and New York Harbor. Horatio Allen, soon to be President of the ASCE, was its first Chief Engineer. He designed a multiple span suspension bridge. Later the American Bridge Company started construction on a five span bridge but went bankrupt before it completed the first pier foundations.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/bobistraveling (CC BY 2.0)
Image Caption:
Poughkeepsie-Highland Bridge
Era_date_from:
1888
2009
These canals and locks are a part of the first extensive system of canal and river navigation works undertaken in the United States. The idea for the canal was proposed by George Washington, when, as an engineer, surveyor and military emissary for Virginia, he saw the need for a trade route west beyond the Allegheny Mountains. In order to do create this route, it was necessary to try to tame the Potomac River which was a wild, unruly stream which only the hardiest of rivermen ever attempted.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Rudi Riet (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Image Caption:
Potowmack Canal and Locks
Era_date_from:
1799
1970
The Portland Head Light was the first lighthouse to be constructed in Maine and the first one completed and put into service by the Federal government under the Lighthouse Act of 1789, which moved to place all lighthouses under federal control. While work had begun on the lighthouse in 1787 by the State of Massachusetts which, at that time, had jurisdiction over Maine, it was completed by the Federal government. When this lighthouse was being built, Portland was the sixth largest port in the country, the closest port to Europe and had significant trade with the Caribbean.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Bernt Rostad (CC BY 2.0)
Image Caption:
Portland Head Light
Era_date_from:
1787
2002
The Portland Observatory was built in 1807 by Captain Lemuel Moody to serve as a communication station for Portland Harbor. Portland Observatory was one of the earliest marine signal stations in the United States, and it is the last known to survive. The Observatory's location on Munjoy Hill gave it a clear view of vessels approaching Portland Harbor. The Observatory contributed to the prosperity of Portland Harbor as a vital center of maritime commerce during the "Golden Age of Sail."
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Wikipedia/Econrad (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Image Caption:
Portland Observatory
Era_date_from:
1807
2006
The Port Washington Power Plant of the Wisconsin Electric Company was the most thermally efficient steam power plant in the world for many years following its opening in 1935. Its design reflected the cumulative experience of the utility's engineers in burning pulverized coal at the Oneida Street Plant and the Lakeside Station in Milwaukee.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy ASME
Image Caption:
The dedication of Port Washington Power Plant coincided with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the city in which it is located.
Era_date_from:
1935
1980
Used to lift molten iron to molds where it was cast into pipe, jib cranes were the sole means of conveyance in the pit-casting process. When pit casting was replaced by centrifugal casting in the 1920s, many pits were filled and the cranes were used to produce cast iron fittings or general maintenance work. Only one jib crane remained at the American Cast Iron Pipe Company in recent years, and it was probably the last pit-cast jib crane to operate, which it did until it was given to the Sloss Furnace Museum in early 1986.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy ASME
Image Caption:
The crane as it is used today, in general service
Era_date_from:
1905
1977
In the late 1920s, the automobile cut railroad passenger service by more than half. The debut of the Pioneer Zephyr heralded a comeback in 1934, touring the country and being seen by some two million people in 222 cities.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Steve Wilson (CC BY 2.0)
Image Caption:
Pioneer Zephyr
Era_date_from:
1934
1980
The economic situation in the whale oil business (for lighting), coupled with the increased demand for lubricants, stimulated growth in the U.S. petroleum industry. The drilling of the heavy, sulfurous, and asphaltic California crude began in the 1870s at the Pico Canyon area, using the apparatus and techniques from Titusville, Pennsylvania, developments.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Konrad Summers (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Image Caption:
Pioneer Oil Refinery California Star Oil Works
Era_date_from:
1876
1975
T.S.C. Lowe’s Observation Flight
Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe demonstrated the use of a hydrogen-filled balloon in aerial reconnaissance through a series of tethered ascents in June, 1861 in front of…
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The Purdue University Airport was the first collegiate owned airport in the United States. It hosted Amelia Earhart for her final adventure, was the training ground for test pilots such a Jimmy Johnson and Ivan Kincheloe, balloonist Malcolm Ross, and astronaut Neil Armstrong.…
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This site, originally the home of the Eclipse-Pioneer Division of the Bendix Aviation Corporation, has produced navigational instruments and engine components since 1938. Providing instruments that flew with Lindbergh across the Atlantic, and Admiral Byrd in the cold of Antarctica;…
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Known as the birthplace of Naval Aviation, North Island was the site of the first successful seaplane flight and the first amphibious flight in the U.S., both made by Glenn Curtiss. The first Naval pilot, Lt. T.G. Ellyson, was trained here at the Curtiss Aviation Camp. A flight…
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This Federal Laboratory has played a pivotal role in creating our modern air traffic control system. Established as the National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center in 1958, the Technical Center’s research and engineering achievements, and its direct support to airports and FAA…
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H. John Eastman introduces controlled directional drilling in 1929 and was awarded a patent the following year.
The technique became widely adopted after an oil strike in Conroe, Texas, caught fire in January 1933. The well exploded, creating a 600-foot deep crater, and the oil burned…
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Agricultural Aviation Began In 1921 When C. R. Neillie Got A Military Plane To Dust Catalpa Trees Near Troy, OH. In 1922 B. R. Coad And C. E. Wollman Began Research At Tallulah, LA To Control Boll Weevils In Cotton. They Developed Equipment Using Venturi Induction, Ram Air Pressure And…
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American Society of Agricultural Engineers Founded in this Building December 27, 1907
A crucial step in the evolution of modern plant agriculture was the development of low-cost, energy-efficient greenhouse structures that provide optimum growing conditions year-round. In 1964, Professor William J. Roberts developed the first air-inflated double-layer polyethylene…
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In 1932, J. O. Smith, Agricultural Engineer at Delta Branch Experiment Station in Stoneville, MS, attached a small anhydrous ammonia cylinder to a plow in such a manner that the NH3 was released in the soil. The plow, a Georgia Stock, was pulled by a gray mule named Ike. This was the…
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Designated an Historic Landmark of Agricultural Engineering. In the Shelbyville Area During the Spring of 1929, Raymore McDonald Designed and Developed the First Commercial Pick-Up Baler as Conceived and Financed by Horace Tallman and His Sons, Leslie R. and Gentry L. These Balers were…
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Established in 1907, the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) was managed by volunteers. In 1925, local editor Raymond Olney was named secretary, thus establishing ASAE in this area. By 1969, with over 7,000 members in 100 countries, an ASAE building was constructed at this…
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Farm And Residence of John Johnston 1791 - 1880 Eminent Farmer Who Here Originated Tile Underdrainage in America in 1835 and Thereby Became an Outstanding Contributor to Human Welfare Honored by The American Society of Agricultural Engineers 1935. Erected by State Education Department…
This Creative Development Which Was Responsible For The Survival Of The Cotton Industry In The United States Occurred In General Nathaniel Greene's Plantation Near Savannah 10 Miles Northeast Of This Marker. Separation By Hand Labor Of The Lint From The Seed Of The Desired Upland Variety…
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Charles C. Fenno Of Grinnell, Ia, Patented The First Field Corn Silage Harvester On April 19, 1892. His Ground-Powered Machine Cut The Corn Plant And Fed The Tassel End First To A Rotary Cutter. Joseph Weigel Of Flandreau, Sd, Improved Fenno's Harvester In 1912 By Adding An Engine To…
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Designated an Historic Landmark in Honor of J. Brownlee Davidson a Founder of Agricultural Engineering First President of American Society of Agricultural Engineers Organizer of the First Professional Agricultural Engineering Curriculum July 1905 by American Society of Agricultural…
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The First Successful Row Crop Tractor Invented by Bert R. Benjamin (ASAE Member) was Operated and Tested on this Farm in 1923. Increased Row Crop Clearance and Overall Versatility Extending the Use of the Tractor to Cultivating, Accelerated the Conversion from Animal Power to Machine…
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George Stockton Berry (1847-1917) of Lindsay, Tulare County, California designed, built, and in 1886, operated the first self-propelled combine. He was granted a U.S. Patent (# 374,339) in1887. The Berry design embodied the following "firsts":
1. Self-propelled combine.
2. Combine…
The Food Canning Industry Was Revolutionized In 1920, When The Continuous Rotary Pressure Sterilizer Was Introduced By Albert R. Thompson. Thompson Was Chief Engineer For The Anderson-Barngrover Co. Of San Jose, California, Now The FMC Corporation. The Sterilizer Cooked Canned Products…
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Preventing Wind Erosion Was The Primary Objective Of Fred Hoeme, a Hooker, Oklahoma Farmer, When He Developed A Heavy-Duty Chisel Plow In 1933. Hoeme And His Sons Manufactured And Sold About 2000 Plows From Their Farmstead. In 1938, W. T. Graham Purchased The Manufacturing And…
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