The Rise of the Automobile

Image Number Neg 79. 729 PP8, Hughes Studio Photograph Collection,

Courtesy of the Prints and Photography Division, Maryland Historical Society

United was able to withstand competition from the jitney; however, their main competition was the automobile. Automobiles allowed people to move around the city independently, and were very popular in Maryland. From 1920-1940, automobiles in Maryland increased from 100,000 to 300,000. The automobile industry attracted customers around the country by creating less expensive and better quality vehicles. They used clever advertising to attract customers as shown within this Oldsmobile advertisement. Automobile companies capitalized on new technology to create a product that would last, insuring that they would remain in competition with mass transit. Automobiles were viewed by society as a permanent invention unlike the jitney, and people responded by altering aspects of society to accommodate the change.

Public Transit at a Crossroads

Accession Number P75-54-0054g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland ,Baltimore County

Transit severely declined after the 1918 annexation. As major cities like Baltimore increased in size, it was expected that people would rely more on transit; yet, between 1920 and 1930, rider numbers in Baltimore and Cincinnati decreased thirty to forty percent. There were multiple reasons for the decline. Many people were dissatisfied with the service. The equipment used on streetcars was old, the cars were often crowded, and fares expensive. Residents who moved to the newly annexed areas had little access to streetcar lines. Because United could not afford to build lines in majority of those areas, many residents ended up buying automobiles. Lines that were built near the suburbs were many times unprofitable. As a result of the decline, some streetcar routes may have looked like this picture. The line is in an area with few riders perhaps because residents cannot or do not want to take the streetcar. Also note the automobile in the picture which is easily moving from the interior of that area, representing easy mobility.

Suburbanization After the Annexation

Accession Number P75-54-0680g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Accession Number, P75-54-0915g, Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection,

Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

These builders transformed the new neighborhoods into modern suburban communities. The photos above are a dramatization, but I picture this transformation of the annexed neighborhoods as beginning with simply houses (similar to the top photo) and later transformed into developed communities with paved streets (like the bottom photo). The builders were the first settlers so to speak who initiated the change. Builders such as James Keelty and Edward Gallagher were successful because they offered a “package” (nice location, low cost, house size, style) to buyers. Some locations like Edmonson Avenue also offered new amenities with water supply and sewage systems. Many families moved out of the center away from the old houses to these new suburbs leaving many areas vacant. The suburbs were significant because the newly annexed areas were homogeneous communities of middle class, second and third generation immigrants with white collar professions. The suburbs that we see today began their development at this time.