Elisha Graves Otis Produces the First Passenger Elevator with Safety Locks, Facilitating the Growth of High-Rise Buildings | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Elisha Graves Otis Produces the First Passenger Elevator with Safety Locks, Facilitating the Growth of High-Rise Buildings

Overview

A descendent of James Otis, a British immigrant who arrived in North America in the seventeenth century, Elisha Graves Otis was born in 1811. He grew up in Vermont before moving to the state of New York to work as a master mechanic. Working for the Bergen Company in Yonkers, he installed a "safety hoist" in a building in 1852 as a means to prevent the sudden fall of the elevator. Five years later, he designed and constructed the first safety elevator in a New York City building. By 1861, following additional improvements to his system, Otis's sons formed the Otis Elevator Company. Together with other innovations in building practices, the elevator became the cornerstone for the effective development of the skyscraper, the first of which rose in New York City. The elevator thus changed the urban landscape and, consequently, the way businesses worked in cities.

Background

Elevators date as far back as Roman times. Engineering texts from the first century B.C. describe the use of platforms that employed pulleys and were operated by humans, animals, or even water power.

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