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Boyertown Area Events

What’s Going Down in Boyertown? (duryea)

Jeff Frederick Jeff Frederick03 Nov 2021

Your weekly guide to the events and happenings in and around Boyertown, PA

What to do? Where to go? Here is your one stop list of community events, music, arts, food, business specials, and historic events for Boyertown and beyond…

As a Boyertown graduate, a real estate agent at Glocker Realty, and also a proud member of Building a Better Boyertown, I have had the joy of watching our little town grow. I enjoy having any part in helping our community to move forward. I hope this weekly blog will help shine a light on all the great things happening in and around Boyertown, PA

Here is what’s going down during the week of 9/2/2021 – 9/8/2021

DURYEA DAY CAR SHOW IS BACK! WAIT…WHO IS DURYEA?

Duryea Day is back! The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, along with the Pottstown Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America, will be hosting their 55th Annual Duryea Day Antique & Classic Car & Truck Show & Flea Market this Saturday, September 4th from 9AM to 2PM in Boyertown Community Park.

Duryea-Day-1

This family friendly event is sure to excite young an old alike! With hundreds of vehicles already registered you should plan on getting there early to enjoy the full event. Free transportation between the event and the vehicle museum is being offered by Quigley Bus Service. Admission to the museum is free with an event ticket. There will also be food and drink options throughout the day by, CD’s Place Catering & Eatery, Moyer’s Catering, Mister Softee, Kosmic Kettle Corn, and Stirrups Mobile Bar Co. Come out this Saturday to see one of the largest car shows in the area!

Recently I interviewed Kendra & Autumn, the Director and Assistant, for the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles (you can watch interview here). During our discussion, I asked the question “Who is Duryea?” The answer was intriguing because of Charles Duryea’s innovations, entrepreneurship, and connection to Berks County. That enticed me to learn more about him, and here is what I found…

Who is Charles Duryea?

Charles Duryea and Frank Duryea were the first Americans to build a successful commercial automobile and the first to incorporate an American business for the expressed purpose of building automobiles for sale to the public.

On September 20, 1893, the Duryea brothers’ first automobile was constructed and successfully tested on the public streets of Springfield, Massachusetts. The Duryea consisted of a one-cylinder gasoline engine, with electrical ignition, installed in a secondhand carriage.

Charles Duryea – 1895

Two years later, on November 28, 1895, the Duryea brothers entered their improved Motor Wagon in America’s first auto race. It was a 54-mile round trip from Chicago to Evanston, Illinois. The Duryea Motor Wagon placed first against three German-made Benz models and two American electric cars. They won the race in just over 10 hours at an average speed of 7.3 mph.

In 1896, the Duryea brothers started the Duryea Motor Wagon Company. This was the first company to manufacture and sell gasoline-powered vehicles. That year they produced 13 gasoline-powered vehicles that were identical in design and construction…an accomplishment regarded as the beginning of the American automobile industry

After a falling out between the two brothers, they disbanded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company and went their separate ways. Charles Duryea, now on his own, was in search of a suitable location for automobile manufacturing.

In 1900, Charles partnered with wealthy ironmaster, Herbert M. Sternbergh, who offered financial backing for the new company, which relocated him to Pennsylvania. Duryea and Sternbergh incorporated the Duryea Power Company in 1901 and opened the new automobile factory in Reading, PA in 1902. They started manufacturing three-wheel, three-cylinder, gasoline powered automobiles with a top speed of 20 mile-an-hour. Every vehicle produced was tested by Charles or his daughter, Rhea, by driving it up a steep winding road to the top of the summit, now known as “Duryea Drive”.

By 1905, Duryea’s fifty workers were manufacturing sixty cars a year, including the four-wheel Phaeton, which soon sold for $1,600. Duryea’s automobiles were a success, but a fight among the company’s partners led to the collapse of the business in 1907.

Undaunted, Duryea designed a new automobile with significant design innovations, including a two-cylinder, air-cooled engine, which he named the “Buggyaut.” Manufactured in a garage in Reading, the Buggyaut was an inexpensive auto with large wheels designed for rural markets and unpaved roads. The Buggyaut never achieved the success that he had envisioned, and in 1914, Duryea closed the garage and left Reading.

Duryea GEM @ Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles

In 1916, eight years after Henry Ford introduced his Model T, Duryea made another attempt to produce his own “car for the people.” With financing from Keyser Fry of Reading, he created the Duryea GEM, a cross between an automobile and a motorcycle, with a newly designed engine and suspension. Advertised as the “Biggest Idea in the History of the Motor Car and the Last Word in Automobile Construction,” it was also extremely affordable, costing only $250 and boasting an impressive 65 miles of driving per gallon of gasoline. Unfortunately, lack of funding forced Duryea to drop the project, and no more than a dozen were built.

The GEM would be the last automobile made by Charles Duryea. From there, he moved to Illinois, Michigan, Philadelphia, and then back to Reading. He would die in Philadelphia, on September 28, 1938.

Would you like to see a Duryea vehicle in person?

The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles has one of the largest collections of Duryea and other PA vehicles on display. Visit this beautiful family friendly museum at 85 S Walnut St, Boyertown, PA 19512 or learn more at boyertownmuseum.org.

FROLIC
VIP TASETING

LEARN ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY on The Cast at Glocker! Livestreaming at Glocker Realty & Insurance on Facebook or YouTube every Wednesday at 6pm. Hosts Matt Green & Jeff Frederick talk with people and businesses from the Boyertown and surrounding communities and also discuss local events. Join us live and be part of the conversation!

This week we replayed our interview with Kendra & Autumn, who are the Director and Assistant for the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles . This Saturday, Sept 4th is the museum’s 55th annual Duryea Day car show. In the interview we discussed the car show and other interesting topiscs. Watch the interview here: The Cast at Glocker @ Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles

Events List

THURSDAY 9/2/2021

FRIDAY 9/3/2021

SATURDAY 9/4/2021

SUNDAY 9/5/2021

MONDAY 9/6/2021

TUESDAY 9/7/2021

WEDNESDAY 9/8/2021

To finish first, you must first finish.

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If you would like your event posted email me at jeff@glocker.com

For real estate assistance contact Jeff Frederick at jeff@glocker.com or call/text at 610-766-2028.

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Jeff Frederick
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I am a real estate agent with Glocker Realty in Boyertown, PA. I am a father of two and a husband of one. I love my family the most, but I also love the town I grew up and work in. Hence my blog posts.
Jeff knows Boyertown
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