History
John Brisben Walker arranged the purchase of F. E. Stanley and F. O. Stanley's manufacturing rights and factory for their steam carriage demonstrated in 1898. With Amzi L. Barber, they set-up the Locomobile Company of America in 1899 to produce steam carriages. Almost immediately, Walker and Barber parted ways and split the company in two. Walker set up the Mobile Company of America with the right to the Stanley patents but no factory, while the Locomobile Company shared the patent rights but also received the Stanley Watertown factory and most of the steam cars under production. [1] [2]
Walker purchased land of the former Ambrose Kingsland estate at Kingsland Point in what is now the village of Sleepy Hollow, New York, and hired McKim, Mead & White to design a purpose-built automobile factory. Manufacturing machinery was purchased and the new factory at Kingsland Point produced its first Mobile Steam carriage on March 7, 1900. Advertising claimed it to be the largest automobile factory in the world. [3] [1]
Mobile's version of the steam carriage had a 5 to 12 horsepower engine, with a water tank range of about 35 miles and a gasoline tank range of between 60 and 75 miles. In 1901 kerosene could replace gasoline for fuel. Originally built as a light runabout, Mobile added up to 24 styles of bodies to improve poor sales. By 1902, a top speed of 50 mph was claimed. Prices for the Model 4 runabout started at $750 (equivalent to $27,257in 2024) rising to a 9-passenger "coupe" Model 50 at $3,000 (equivalent to $109,027in 2024). [2] [1]
The Automobile Races held at Newport, Rhode Island in September 1900 featured a steam vehicle race won by Joseph H. McDuffee driving the Mobile. Earlier in 1900, Brisben Walker with his wife drove a Mobile steam carriage up Pikes Peak to the timberline or approximately 10,000 feet. [4] [3]
Advertising for the Mobile Company was taken out in most major magazines and as Brisben Walker was the publisher of Cosmopolitan Magazine, the Mobile Company of America featured prominently in it. Mobile's new factory was expected to produce 20 steam carriages weekly. By the fall of 1901, production was averaging 5 steam carriages a week. [4] [3] Barber's Locomobile built approximately 5,000 steam runabouts over three years. Mobile, being slower to market, built an estimated 600. In early 1903, the Mobile Company of America stopped production. Later in 1903, the equipped automobile plant at Kingsland Point was leased to Maxwell-Briscoe. [2] [4] In January 1906, what seems to be a press release appeared in identical form in several newspapers around the country. E.g., The Anaconda Standard (January 21, 1906, p.7, col. 3) read:
“…a sudden change in public favor from steam to the French gasoline car left the company with [...] losses exceeding $1,700,000. Mr. Walker personally assumed the indebtedness of the Mobile Company of America, and not only paid it off in full, but returned to every shareholder the amount of his investment, with interest. This action required the sale of the Cosmopolitan Magazine, Kingsland Point, and some other properties."
With some short interruptions, Walker's Kingsland Point site continued to be used to build autos until June 1996, when General Motors finally stopped production of cars there and closed its North Tarrytown Assembly plant.
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