THE FIRST AUTOMOBILES

Dr. E.B. Claxton and daughter Irene, circa. 1921.





On Tuesday, April 29, 1902, an automobile suddenly appeared on the streets of Dublin. It was the first of the horseless carriages that was ever seen in Dublin, it attracted a great deal of attention. Many Dubliners knew of the automobile but had never seen one. The automobile was in the charge of two young men who are traveling about the country advertising a chill and fever cure. The car came from the direction of Macon and darted down Jackson Street at a rapid rate of speed. Nearly every small boy in town and many others who seemed to come from a distance were soon behind the machine. People who were on the street stopped suddenly and gazed at the noiselessly moving vehicle, not quite certain that their eyes were not deceiving them. The doors of the business houses were soon filled with proprietors and employees and all business ceased.

The dray horses, which seldom had anything but the usual to break the monotony of their lives, were taken too much by surprise and performed several tricks unrequested by their drivers. The interest in the automobile was no greater in Dublin than it was in New York when the first one appeared there. Eldrid Simpkins continued his tour of Georgia. On May 1st the engine of the car caught on fire in Millen. The car was a total loss as were six buildings and eleven horses which perished in the fire.

Several years went by before the automobile became a common sight on the streets of Dublin. Obviously, the wealthiest men were the first car owners. In 1906, before there were many cars in Dublin, H.H. Smith led a movement to build a 5 mile speedway starting at the Railroad on Academy Avenue, thence to the Cotton Mill where it turned down Kellam and Roberson Streets. Running across northern Dublin the 60 foot wide track was planned to run into Washington Street, where it made its final turn back to Jackson Street. The $1000.00 track was never completed.

Rause Wright Miller, who came to Dublin in 1895 to open a bicycle shop, opened the first car dealership in Laurens County. He sold his first car, a Cadillac, on February 23, 1907 for $800.00. Frank Corker, President of the First National Bank, is thought to have been the first person in Laurens County to own an automobile. In 1908 Lewis W. Miller, brother of Rause Wright Miller, raced the train of the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad from Tennille to Dublin. Miller had to go slow in some places over bad roads. Miller in his Cadillac beat the train back to Dublin by ten minutes. Of course, cars needed gasoline to fuel their engines, so the Miller brothers installed the first gasoline tank and thereby established the first service station in Dublin.

The Dublin Auto and Machine Co. was incorporated by T.B. Darley in 1908. Frank F. Scarborough was the manager. A large sale room and repair shop was erected in the building now occupied by Charter Communications on South Jefferson Street near the railroad. By 1910, there were two hundred automobiles in Laurens County, seventy five percent of which were in Dublin.




Homemade Car - 1919 - G.T., Lena and Tom
Daniel


Charles W. Brantley established the Laurens Automobile and Repair Company in 1910. Brantley built a two story - 50 x 100 foot - garage on Lawrence Street. The building is now the home of Allgood Services. The lower floor was an agency for Maxwell, Oakland, and Hupmobiles. Brantley was also an agent for Michelin Tires. Frank F. Scarborough was the manager. The upper floor was the garage, which remained open day and night for repairs. The garage was filled with windows which gave the mechanics better lighting. The garage had a capacity of fifty cars which were lowered and raised by elevator.

The automobile rapidly became a status symbol among Dublin's elite. In the early days purchases of new cars often made the newspaper such as W.B. Rice’s 1909 purchase of a 30 horse power Cadillac, the most powerful car in Dublin. Frank G. Corker and A.W. Garrett made the newspaper when they received their White gasoline cars in 1910. As early as 1909, Dubliners, who had been caught up in the fever of car racing in Savannah, staged races to Atlanta and back.

The emergence of automobile traffic accelerated the need for paved streets in Dublin. The horseless carriage couldn't handle the mud like the tried and true horses and mules. The automobile also forced the location of the Confederate Statue from the intersection of Jefferson Street and Jackson Street to its current location off the street. The first traffic signals were primitive and were placed in the streets. It wasn't until decades later when modern day traffic signals were installed.

In April of 1910, a automobile hill climbing contest was held at the Turkey Creek Hill near Dudley. The cars sped from west side of the creek to top of the hill. The top winners were 1. White Star Car - Charles Eberlein - 35 seconds; 2. White Gasolene - Marshall - 37 seconds; 3. Buick - L.W. Miller - 37 seconds. 4. The Ohio - Izzie Bashinski - 40 seconds.





Haywood Leland Moore, circa. 1914.


Car races were usually held around the holidays. The greatest races were held on Bellevue Avenue. The race began on Bellevue Road at its intersection with Roberson Street at the current location of the Dublin Center. From there the racers would speed down the 1.6 dirt road course back to the finish line at the Carnegie Library, now the Dublin- Laurens Museum. Spectators by the thousands lined the course. The cars were timed, one at a time, by electric timers and telephones and averaged about 65 miles an hour with top speeds at 75 m.p.h. In 1910, the winners were A.M. Kea and F. Dunnel of Dublin, and Herbert Wilson of Hagan. The grand prize was $100.00. Motorcycles were also included with one Indian Motorcycle winning its division by averaging over 85 miles per hour. The enthusiasm lasted long after the race forcing the police chief to assign police officers with stop watches at different intervals to catch speeders. The rest of the story is history. For the last ninety five years, the automobile has been an integral part of our daily lives.

Tom Daniels in his garage.

Photographs from the Vanishing Georgia Collection, Georgia Department of Archives and History, Georgia Secretary of State and Laurens County Historical Society.