Who were some important inventors from Maine?
Freelon and Francis Stanley – Born in Kingfield in 1859, the Stanley twins invented the Stanley Steamer, a steam powered automobile, in 1897. It was the first mass-produced automobile in the United States. The Stanley Steamer was the first car able to reach speeds up to 120 mph, and the Stanley twins were notorious for speeding. In 1918, Francis was speeding along the Newburyport Turnpike on his way back to Boothbay Harbor when he swerved to avoid two farm wagons. He hit a pile of cordwood and was killed. The Stanley’s steam-powered car was eventually supplanted by the emergence of Henry Ford’s mass produced gasoline car, and the Stanley Steamer company went out of business in 1925.
