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The Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum

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- This Pierce-Arrow Town Car sold for $6,500 in 1919, very expensive for its time.
- The Boyce MotoMeter, patented in 1912, was used in automobiles to give drivers information about engine temperature while operating the car. Motometers, at first aftermarket devices, were later standard or optional. They became unnecessary when dash-mounted temperature gauges appeared around 1930. The museum has a large collection of automobile mascots and motometers on display.
- Distinctive fender lamps were designed by Herbert Dawley, who was recruited by Charles Clifton after entering a public design contest.
The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company

Buffalo’s luxury automaker.

THE PIERCE-ARROW MOTOR CAR COMPANY

In the 1870s, The George N. Pierce Company was known for expert craftsmanship that went into household items, such as bird cages and ice chests. They evolved to produce innovative bicycles, then motorcycles and one-cylinder automobiles. Demand grew, and in 1906, Pierce moved into a 1,500,000 square foot factory on Elmwood Avenue, once the site of the Pan-American Exposition.

Pierce-Arrow manufactured luxury automobiles for an affluent market. Powerful, ornate, artistic and sophisticated, Pierce-Arrows symbolized wealth and status. Pierce-Arrows were the official White House vehicle for presidents from Howard Taft to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the automobile of choice for John D. Rockefeller, J. Edgar Hoover, Orville Wright and Babe Ruth.

Pierce-Arrow was renowned for its innovations, such as the fender light designed by Herbert Dawley in 1914. Dawley also designed the iconic Helmeted Archer hood ornament. The company created Travelodge trailers, complete with gas stoves, ice chests, water tanks and dining areas. The company produced over 12,500 trucks for use in WWI. Pierce-Arrow employed over 10,000 men and women in Buffalo, NY, and boasted they used more aluminum than any other country in the world in 1915.

Does your family have a connection to The Pierce-Arrow company? Please share your story with us. Share your story
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- This 1909 Thomas Flyer 6-40 Flyabout sold for $3,750 in 1909.
- Headlights were powered by gas.
THE THOMAS FLYER

Early advertising claimed, “You have never known the real delights of motoring until you have toured in a Thomas Flyer.”

THE E. R. THOMAS MOTOR CAR COMPANY

E. R. Thomas Motor Car Company of Buffalo, NY, originally established for the manufacture of bicycles and motorcycles, was first located at Broadway & Elm in Buffalo. The 1904 Thomas Auto-Bi, the first practical U.S. motorcycle, was promoted as very near a perfect motor bicycle and the safest, easiest riding and most durable motor bicycle ever made. The Museum’s 1904 Thomas Auto-Bi was meticulously restored by Doug Redmond and donated to the Museum by Mr. Tom Hagen of Erie, PA.

The company built its first automobile about 1900. Because of the character, speed, and reliability of Thomas cars, they were referred to as the “Thomas Flyer.” In 1905 Thomas Flyers won hill-climbing and endurance contests. There were 7000 E. R. Thomas automobiles sold in the public market and they sold from $3750 to $6000 each.

The company assets were sold off in bankruptcy in 1913. The Thomas Motor Car Company factory stands today as part of the Rich Products complex, 1200 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY.

The museum is proud to display its 1909 Thomas 6-40 Flyabout 5 passenger, 1904 Thomas Auto-Bi meticulously restored by Douglas Redmond, a bronze of the NY to Paris Thomas by artist, Stan Wanlass, and more rare original Thomas memorabilia.

THE 1908 NEW YORK TO PARIS RACE

In 1908, the perception of automobiles was that they were an unreliable luxury for the rich. At this time, a race was proposed: An around the world adventure from New York City to Paris, with teams driving across North America, crossing the frozen Bering Strait, through Asia to Europe, and finally finishing at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Five European teams were entered, but no Americans were represented. It was thought no car could get past Chicago in the dead of winter.

President Teddy Roosevelt, however, was not going to stand for Europeans driving across his country in a race America wasn’t competing in. He put the call out to manufacturers. The only one confident enough in his vehicles was E.R. Thomas. He volunteered his 1907 Thomas Flyer Model 35, and his top mechanic, George Schuster, as driver. 24 hours before the race began, Schuster was told to pack his bags and get to New York—he was about to drive around the world.
A crowd of 250,000 gathered to watch the start of the race in Times Square. It took 41 days to get to San Francisco. In Alaska, 10 feet of snow meant the competitors had to be shipped across the Pacific. The journey was dangerous and grueling. A New York Times correspondent rode with the team, sending carrier pigeons with his dispatches wrapped around its leg back to the U.S.

The Thomas Flyer finally entered the city gates of Paris on July 30th—but was not allowed due to a broken headlight! A passing cyclist offered his lamp but they couldn’t remove it from his bike, so with an entire bicycle strapped to the hood, Schuster and the Thomas Flyer crossed the finish line at the Eiffel Tower, 169 days after they embarked.

They returned home as heroes. President Roosevelt sat behind the steering wheel and told Schuster, “I like men who do things. Not the good man who stays at home.” The victory legitimized the American automobile manufacturing industry, and convinced its citizens of the car’s reliability beyond the horseless carriage.
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- Wright’s design called for two 37 foot copper-clad poles he called “totems,” as seen in one of his original drawings found in the Taliesin West archives.
- The station is situated inside a 30,000 square foot atrium addition that features a high ceiling to accommodate the totems that support a neon TYDOL sign in a Frank Lloyd Wright script.
- Wright’s design called for two 37 foot poles he called “totems.”
THE 1927 BUFFALO FILLING STATION BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

Wright called this design “An Ornament to the Pavement.”
AN ORNAMENT TO THE PAVEMENT

By the 1920s, Frank Lloyd Wright had designed a number of prominent homes and buildings in Western New York. Wright strongly believed that the automobile would replace the train as the daily form of transportation. He therefore sought a commission from local Larkin Company executives Darwin Martin and William R. Heath to develop a new gas station that would revolutionize the way we filled our tanks.
Wright’s “Ornament to the Pavement,” as he called it, had a number of unique features. There was a second story observation room with a fireplace, restrooms, a copper roof, two 37 foot poles (Wright called “totems”), overhead gravity-fed gas distribution system, and attendant quarters with a second fireplace.
Originally designed for the corner of Michigan Ave. and Cherry St. in downtown Buffalo, Wright’s plans would be left on the shelf until 2002, when Pierce-Arrow Museum founder Jim Sandoro and architect Patrick Mahoney traveled to Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ to locate anything related to the Buffalo Filling Station. They found Wright’s drawings and notes, and secured rights to build from his drawings.
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT IN WESTERN NEW YORK

At the turn of the 20th century, Buffalo was one of America’s fastest growing cities, which attracted our greatest architects. Few regions can boast as many Frank Lloyd Wright structures as Western New York, including:

The Martin House
Graycliff
Fontana Boathouse
Blue Sky Mausoleum
Walter V. Davidson House
William R. Heath House
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- The 1904 Arrow was one of the first G.N. Pierce vehicles to have the engine mounted on the front rather than underneath the car.
- The 1904 Arrow is powered by a 15 HP Two Cylinder T-head engine with three speed manual transmission and a bore and stroke of 3-15/16 x 4 ¾.
- Only 125 were ever produced and only two remain in existence today.
THE 1904 ARROW REAR ENTRY TONNEAU

Witness a find so rare there are only two in existence.

A RARE SPIN THROUGH HISTORY

A mere 125 of the legendary Arrow Rear Entry Tonneaus were manufactured by Pierce-Arrow between 1903-04. All but two have been lost to time. One resides at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. The other has come home to the Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum — only a half mile from where it was first built on the Buffalo waterfront.

Acquisition of the Museum’s 1904 was made possible by a generous donation from the Jean and Bill Irr Family Foundation. It has been shown at Pebble Beach and ran in the London To Brighton Veteran Car Run in England. Today it is displayed on a turntable created by Avant-Garde Technology of Buffalo.
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- The 1902 Stanhope electric carriage weighed 1,800 pounds and featured wood wheels, hard rubber tires, and a Victoria top.
- The carriage had a top speed of 14 mph and could get up to 50 miles per battery charge under normal, level conditions.
- Wealthy families in Buffalo in the early 1900s might have two vehicles; a gasoline auto for the men and an electric for the women.
BUFFALO ELECTRIC CARRIAGE CO.

Glimpse the battery-operated vehicle over a century ahead of its time.

SHORT CHARGE

In 1900, electric vehicle production in the U.S. kept pace with gasoline-powered automobiles. However, as mass manufacturing drove down the price of gas-powered autos, and innovation increased reliability, electrics were soon left in the dust.

Buffalo Electric Carriage Co.’s horseless electric carriage, the Stanhope, appealed to women, who would not have to use a dangerous hand crank to start the vehicle. Quiet, easy to operate, and emission-free, the Stanhope was also slow, had a difficult time going uphill, and needed to be recharged every 20-50 miles.

"...I've always wanted, ever since I was born, to ride somethin' that went by itself. I've pulled horses up and down these hills till I'm sick to death of it. I've al'ays set far forred on the seat an' breathed light so's not to weigh so much, an' I want to ride in somethin' I can lean back in an' weigh heavy 'fore I die – somethin' that I won't have to think all the time how tired it's getting."

Excerpt from "Why She Wanted An Automobile"
Buffalo Evening News, December 22, 1902
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- Jell-O salesmen visited Ellis Island, where they greeted newly arrived immigrants with Jell-O samples.
- The Wagon has original paint and gold leaf lettering.
- Jell-O originally called itself ‘powdered ice cream’ and the gelatin was made of ground up animal bones!
THE c. 1900 JELL-O WAGON

A relic of early American advertising promoting “America’s Most Famous Dessert.”

AMERICAN PICKERS

American Pickers is a beloved History Channel reality television series where antique collectors Mike Wolfe, Robb Wolfe and Frank Fritz travel the U.S. to “pick” unique collectibles, often following up on leads from colleague Danielle Colby. One such lead brought them to a barn in Louisiana, where they discovered an extremely rare 1900 Jell-O Wagon.

Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum co-founder Jim Sandoro, a passionate advocate for the history of transportation in Western New York, knew he had to bring the Wagon home. He flew to Iowa to meet the Pickers and worked out a deal to bring the Wagon to the Museum. Danielle Colby herself appeared in Buffalo for the unveiling in September 2017.

The two episodes can be seen on https://www.history.com/shows/...

May 8, 2017-Season 17 Episode 4 (purchase of the Wagon in Louisiana) and July 24, 2017-Season 17 Episode 11 (Jim Sandoro buys the Wagon).

AMERICA’S MOST FAMOUS DESSERT

Jell-O earned its nickname as “America’s favorite dessert,” with annual sales reaching one million dollars in 1906. Founded in LeRoy, New York by Frank Woodward, the company’s rise to prominence was driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and America’s first real advertising attempt where the product was taken to the people.

Woodward had a fleet of wagons built in Rochester by George Higgins. The Wagons were manned by well-groomed salesman, who drove their “spanking rigs drawn by beautiful black horses” to fairs, country dances and church socials to attract new devotees to the product. They’d pull up to a store where the product was being sold, stand atop the Wagon, and hand out free samples to shoppers. These pitchmen traveled across the country, even out to the west, until 1916 when automobiles took over.
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- Susan B. Anthony once said, “I think [bicycling] has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”
- In the 1890s, women competed alongside men in “Century Runs,” or 100 mile bike races, an impactful symbol of women’s suffrage.
WESTERN NEW YORK CYCLES

Pedal through the history of America’s 1860s-1920s cycles and more.
THE COLLECTION

Buffalo was a hub of cycling innovation and races in the late 19th century thanks to an abundance of asphalt roads. The Museum is proud to display a collection of antique bicycles unique to our region. You’ll find velocipedes, high wheel cycles, tricycles and safety cycles. Many were manufactured here in Western New York by companies including Pierce Cycles, Buffalo Cycle, Buffalo Home Trainer, Buffalo Foot Cycle, Buffalo Tricycle Company, Chautauqua, Eclipse, Electric City, Heintz & Munschauer, Fenton, Favorite, Globe, Maid of the Mist, Punnett, Queen, Saturn, Straight, Tribune and more.
The installation represents the collections of Jim and Mary Ann Sandoro (50+ years), The Burgwardt Family, the former Pedaling History Museum, and items from several donors. The acquisition of Western New York items from the Burgwardt Pedaling History Museum collections was made possible through Jim Sandoro, and the Wendt and Oishei Foundations.
THE WOMEN’S TRANSPORTATION HALL OF FAME

The Museum is home to the National Women’s Transportation Hall of Fame. This unique installment honors women’s contributions and achievements in the field of transportation— with automobiles as well as cycling. The Museum has hosted induction ceremonies to honor:

Alice Ramsey, the first woman to drive across the U.S. in 1909.
Emily Anderson, Retraced Alice 1909 Ramsey’s drive in 2009.
Marguerite Hambleton. AAA New York State
Donna Luh, NYS Thruway Authority, NFTA
Mary Martino, AAA WNY, NFTA
Joann Villeneuve, mother of Formula 1 Champion Jacques Villeneuve.
Clarice Burgwardt, co-founder of the Pedaling History Museum.
Lauren Fix, “The Car Coach,” professional race car driver.
Melinda Burgwardt Gibson, (Posthumous), Captain NYS Wheelmen
Dianne Craig, Director of U.S. Sales, Ford Motor Co.
One of the charter members of Buffalo’s Wheel and Athletic Club was Mrs. Louise Bethune, the architect, who was the purchaser of the first woman's bicycle which was placed on sale in Buffalo. Mrs. Bethune was known as one of the most tireless and persevering riders in the club (from Buffalo Morning Express, 1892).

BE TRANSPORTED

Pierce-Arrow and Thomas Flyer, Buffalo-made cars and cycles, are considered among the finest ever crafted. The Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum celebrates the region’s transportation history with displays of antique vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, the Women’s Transportation Hall of Fame, toys, signs, and historic automobilia unlike any other in the world with particular focus on vehicles made in Western New York. We invite you to come along for the ride.

Pierce Arrow hood ornament, a silver archer firing an arrow.

Things to Know

Museum Opening April 10th, 2021

Starting April 10, 2021, The museum will be open Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm. Additional days hours will...Read More
WANTED! VINTAGE CHARGING STATION.

The Buffalo Transportation/Pierce Arrow Museum would like to acquire a vintage charging station for electric vehicles for our permanent display....Read More

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Recognized by Tripsavvy as one of the top 15 Things to Do in Buffalo, New York

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