John Stephenson (coachbuilder)

John G. Stephenson (1809 in County Armagh, Ireland - 1893 in New Rochelle, N.Y.),[1] an American coachbuilder, invented and patented the first streetcar to run on rails in the United States.

Twelve days later a horse-drawn streetcar built at Stephenson's works and named John Mason after the president of the railroad company, started the public service.

After attending public schools in New York City, he completed his education at the Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.

He had modeled it after the English four-wheeled passenger railroad car but dropped the body down over the wheels for easier access.

He was doing good business when the panic of 1837 struck the country, causing him years of distress as the bonds he had accepted in lieu of cash for orders became worthless.

[10] Undeterred, Stephenson found a new site on West 27th Street, where in 1843 he started to develop a business which eventually covered 16 city lots.

From 1852 he put all his efforts into building streetcars of various types as their popularity extended to cities throughout the world including, for example, Port Elizabeth, South Africa,[11] Bombay and Caracas.