Duryea Drive - the bottom of the mountain
Posted by: 
Gosffo
N 40° 20.084 W 075° 54.667
18T E 422607 N 4465308
Duryea Drive, the bottom of the hill!
Waymark Code: WM66C
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 01/17/2006
Views: 25
Charles E. Duryea, after graduating high school went to school to be a mechanic. He went to Washington, D.C. to work at a bicycle shop. His brother Frank joined him after he graduated school. They moved to Massachusetts. Charles had gone to the Ohio Fair and saw a motor that he thought would work on a "car." Frank drew up the plans and they built their first car. It went 25 feet and stopped. More work and it went 300 feet. The brothers went on to build and sell 13 cars with their company, Dureyea Motor Wagon Company (1896). The cars sold for $1,000 - $2,000. Because of poor sales the company closed in 1900.
The brothers parted ways - they argued over who really invented the car. In 1900 Charles moved to Reading. He was here for only a year, then moving to Saginaw, Michigan. While here this is the hill on which he tested his cars, and they now have the Duryea Hillclimb race. It's the longest hillclimb in the state.
The first traffic accident was in New York. A man driving a Duryea car hit a man riding a bicycle and broke his leg. The driver of the car spent the night in jail!!!!!
So to log your find, take a picture of yourself and the sign and head on up to the top! Remember, you're not racing up to the top. Drive slow! Those bends will do you in!
Marker Name: Duryea Drive
County: Berks
Date Dedicated: 05/17/1951
Marker Type: Roadside
Location: Intersection of Clymer & 13th Sts. at Park Dr., Reading
Category: Professions & Vocations, Transportation, Business & Industry, Gasoline
Website: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark.
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location.