Patent Pending Blog - Patents and the History of Technology

The Star Bicycle

In the era when alternatives were being tried to the "ordinary" bicycle, many new configurations were tried.  One was that made by the Star Company, of H. B. Smith.  In this design, the small wheel was in front, with the intent of reducing the number of headers that riders suffered. The Star Bicycle was used by Lucius D. Copeland as a frame for his steam engine. 

H. B. Smith Steam Tricycle

New Jersey manufacturer Hezekiah Bradley Smith patented a steam powered tricycle in 1889.  He also built the American Star Bicycle, which sold for $150 in a time when an average income for a man was $500.  Smith did very well with his manufacturing business, and was elected to Congress in 1879.  He purchased the town of Shreveville New Jersey and invested vast sums of money to make it an industrial center.  He renamed the town Smithville,  and the town still hosts the  company Smith founded, the Smith Machine  Co.