ELEVATOR Otis

On March 23, 1857, the first commercial safety elevator designed specifically for passenger use went into service. Eder V. Haughwout equipped his five-story, upscale department store in New York City with Otis’ first passenger elevator. The cast-iron building wasn’t any taller than other New York buildings of the time. But Haughwout hoped that people would come to check out this revolutionary technology – and stick around to shop. In the coming years, his customers would include Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.