 | |
| Formerly | J. P. Lowe & Company; C.R. Patterson, Son & Company; C.R. Patterson and Sons Carriage Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive manufacturing company |
| Founded | 1893 (1893) |
| Founder | Frederick Patterson |
| Defunct | 1939 (1939) |
| Successor | Greenfield Bus Body Company; Gallia Body Company |
| Headquarters | Greenfield, Ohio, US |
| Key people |
|
| Products | Patterson-Greenfield automobile |
C.R. Patterson and Sons was an American automotive company headquartered in Greenfield, Ohio and for one year in Gallia, Ohio; founded by Frederick Douglas Patterson and named after his father Charles "Rich" Richard Patterson.
The Pattersons were the first African Americans to manufacture automobiles, their company manufacturing and marketing the Patterson-Greenfield automobile for model years 1914-17 with overall production reaching 150 — none known to have survived.
As the only known black-owned automakers, founded by a former slave, operating during a period of cultural oppression, successful for three generations, Charles Richard Patterson and Frederick Patterson were inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2021.
History
Precursors
Charles "Rich" Richard Patterson (1833–1910) founded precursor companies to C.R. Patterson and Sons. Patterson was born — a slave — in 1833 to Charles and Nancy Patterson of Virginia. The family moved to Ohio between 1841 and 1842. They were listed in the 1850 census in Greenfield, Ohio, which was a busy station on the underground railroad. He initially worked at Dines and Simpson Carriage and Coach Makers Company, and learned blacksmithing.
Charles Patterson partnered with a local carriage builder, J.P. Lowe, a white man, and they created J.P. Lowe & Company in 1873. By 1888, the business employed 10 people, which was considered successful for its time. The United States was experiencing the Panic of 1893, a financial crisis and business was suffering.
Patterson bought Lowe's shares and to mark the inclusion of his son Samuel renamed thee company C.R. Patterson, Son in 1893. Samuel Patterson became ill in 1897, and died in 1899. The eldest son Frederick Douglas Patterson moved home to help with the business.
By 1900, the company was producing 28 different horse-drawn carriage styles including buggies, backboards, phaetons, surreys, and the popular doctor's buggy. They had 50 employees, and were able to manufacture approximately 500 horse-drawn carriages a year.
Automobile manufacturing
After Charles Patterson's death in 1910, his son, Frederick Douglas Patterson, took over the carriage business aiming to manufacture their own "horseless carriage," initially offering local automotive service. On September 23, 1915, the first C.R. Patterson and Sons automobile was assembled, a two-door coupe. The first cars were sold for $685, with additional reports of the car selling for $850 (or $17,741 to $22,014 adjusted for inflation in 2021).
Bus and truck manufacturing
In 1918, C.R. Patterson & Sons halted their auto production and concentrated once again on the repair side of the business. By the 1920s, they started focusing on building and designing truck and bus bodies, which were fitted to chassis made by other manufactures. The company was renamed Greenfield Bus Body Company. Frederick Douglas Patterson died in 1932, and his son Postell Patterson (1906–1981) took over the business.
Most of the bus bodies were purchased by school boards in Southern Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky, as well as the Ohio Transit Company and used in Cincinnati and Cleveland.
In 1938, the company was reorganized under the name Gallia Body Company and the headquarters moved to Gallia, Ohio. Unable to raise enough money, the company closed in 1939.
Further reading
- May, Henry A. (2007). First Black Autos: The Charles Richard "C.R." Patterson & Sons Company. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1425105174.
- Nelson, Christopher (2010). The C. R. Patterson and Sons Company: Black Pioneers in the Vehicle Building Industry, 1865-1939. ISBN 978-1453770306.
References
- ^ "The Only African American Automobile Company". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Smithsonian. 2017-10-11. Archived from the original on 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ^ Larry Printz (December 22, 2024). "The one-and-only known Black-owned American automaker". Autoblog.
- ^ Printz, Larry (2021-03-10). "From buggies to buses, the first Black-owned US automaker did what few others dared". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
- ^ "Charles R. Patterson, Inventor born". African American Registry. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- "The Patterson Automobile". Historical Society of Greenfield, Ohio. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ^ Berk, Brett (2019-02-15). "The Only African American Automaker Started as a Coachbuilder". Car and Driver. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- "C.R. Patterson and Sons: The First and Only African-American Automobile Company". Your AAA Network. 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ^ Smith, Jessie Carney (2006). Encyclopedia of African American Business: A-J. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 646. ISBN 978-0-313-33110-7.
- ^ Theobald, Mark (2004). "Greenfield Bus Body Co., C.R. Patterson & Sons, Peterson-Greenfield, J.P. Lowe & Co., Frederick D. Patterson, Charles R. Peterson, Black Auto Mfr". Coachbult.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
External links
- Article: "Charles R. Patterson, Inventor born" from African American Registry (AAREG)