Elisha Otis and the Invention of the Elevator

 Alexandre Maciel

Mr. Roddy

IHSS

25 April 2022

The Creation of the Elevator

    Elisha Otis was an American industrialist how was born on August 3, 1811. He had a crazy life and almost died of pneumonia at the age of 23. He struggled to sell his ideas and spent a lot of time on the verge of poverty. In 1835, he moved to Albany, New York, because his wife died in order to get a fresh start. There, he started working as a craftsman on ideas such as building an automatic braking system for trains in case of emergencies. He became successful there, and able to afford a good living, but in 1851, while he was cleaning up his factory, he learned about an invention called hoister factories which were used to carry people and down amongst buildings. However, these machines were rather fragile and often broke. He set out to make his own improved version of it, while creating his own company in the process. Otis Brothers & Co had lots of success, as their first model ran at a local fair in Albany in 1853 and impressed a large audience.

    The elevator as it is called now, allowed people to have access to skyscrapers which provided more jobs for people who lived in populous cities with not much land thrive. By 1900s Manhattan alone had 300 skyscrapers or buildings over 10 stories, thanks to the elevator. Otis Brothers & Co continued as a family business, and they were the first company to create a fully electric elevator with collective control in 1925. In 1975, Otis Brothers and Co was bought and became a subsidy of United Technologies Corporation. 



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