Rise of the Otis Elevator

Eder V. Haughwout would have been first in line at a modern day home show like the one this weekend in NYC.

Haughwout's Store—all five floors—was the place for wives of wealthy industrialists to shop for fine furnishing in the 19th century. An inventor himself, Haughwout had heard about a new invention—the elevator—becoming safe to use, so the merchant hired the gentleman shown here, Elisha Otis, to install a passenger elevator in his grand, new cast-iron architecture store.

On this date, March 23, in 1857, Haughwout's became the site of the first safely working commercial elevator. Elisha Otis didn't actually invent the elevator, but he did invent the safety braking system, and this important development opened the way for highrise skyscrapers—and the success of the Otis Elevator Company.

• World's Tallest Buildings
• Discover Cast-Iron Architecture
• The Invention of the Elevator

^{Above: Elisha Graves Otis (1811-1861) circa 1855, patented the steam elevator in 1861. Engraving by H B Hall's Sons, photo © Hulton Archive/Getty Images.}