American Automobile Industry

John William Lambert's Buckeye gasoline buggy, made in 1891, is considered the first practical gasoline-powered automobile made in the United States. Charles Duryea and J. Frank Duryea are generally acknowledged as the first U.S. car makers to build more than one automobile. In 1893, they produced a one-cylinder two-stroke gasoline-powered car. They were followed soon after by Elwood Haynes and Alexander Winton. By the end of the 1800s, the biggest auto manufacturer was Albert Augustus Pope, who through a series of companies sold mostly steam and electric automobiles. The first mass production automobile was made by Ransom E. Olds with the Oldsmobile Curved Dash in 1901. Sales climbed and in 1903 he sold 3,750 of the vehicles.
• Development of the American road system
The practicality of the automobile was initially limited because of the lack of suitable roads. Travel between cities was mostly done by railroad or waterways. Roads were mostly dirt and hard to travel, especially in bad weather. The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 allocated $75 million for building roads, and the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 provided additional funding for road construction. By 1924 there were 31,000 miles of paved road in the U.S.