Program

Hometown Heritage®

Subject

Industry & Commerce, Site

Location

200 Main St, Brookville, PA 15825, USA

Lat/Long

41.160586805195, -79.079709825898

Grant Recipient

Historic Brookville, Inc.

Brookville can stake claim to having a key role in automobile history, having served as the manufacturing hub for the short lived Twyford Motor Car Company, which was responsible for producing the first four-wheel automobile in the United States…if in limited numbers.

Developed by Robert E. Twyford, the patent for an automobile with four-wheel drive and early power steering was granted in 1900, though it wasn’t until a few years later when the Twyford Motor Car Company organized in 1904 that the automobile would gain any traction.

On May 5^th, 1905, the Brookville Republican reported:

Proposition Made to Local Business Men to Establish Manufactory Here. Mr. R.E. Twyford, of Pittsburg, has been in Brookville for several days past, coming here on the invitation of several business men of Brookville who are interested in the town’s industrial development. Mr. Twyford is the inventor and patentee of an improved motor car, embodying years of research along mechanical lines, and his invention has now reached the point where he is ready to put it on the market.

In Brookville, Twyford found a community ready to invest in his vision, and soon construction of a factory was underway. In an article on the automobile and Twyford Motor Car Company, The Brookville Republican reported on March 23^rd, 1905, that “we are glad to be able to make this favorable report concerning one of Brookville’s new industries, as it is upon the success of these interests that the prosperity of our town depends.”

And success seemed certain: The Jeffersonian-Democrat in Buffalo reported on March 23^rd, 1905, following an exhibit of automobiles in the city:

The Twyford machine was the only one at the show which had the four-wheel drive, and in fact is the only machine in America or Europe having this advantage. It was the center of attraction, and was viewed by over 6,000 people every day for a week. The Twyford company had the leading exhibit, having there two complete machines, and a chassis set up and operating all day and night…what attracted the most attention was the simplicity of the machine. So many people remarked when they saw the machine, “Why, they drive all the wheels with one single shaft; it is the simplest machine I ever saw.” This could be heard every few minutes of the day

For the rest of that year, Robert Twyford and those involved in the venture remained busy displaying the cars at exhibit halls, as well as at public demonstrations.

Unfortunately, despite this promise of prosperity the new automobile offered to the Brookville community, the fortune never panned out. Though managing to impress both investors and audiences alike, and despite what those who first saw the automobile might have believed, the design of the automobile proved too difficult to replicate at a large-scale. Compounding this issue, Twyford and company spent more time developing new models of automobiles using the patent, as opposed to perfecting one and investing in its mass production.

As such, production never truly began, the once promising warehouse fell into disuse, and the company soon went bankrupt in 1908.

While only a handful of Twyford automobiles were ever manufactured, the Jefferson County History Center (located just down the road from this marker) has a replica on display as of 2025.

More information about the replica can be found by visiting:

Links

• https://jchconline.org/exhibits/