BUFFALO, N.Y. — In 1904, the first Pierce-Arrow automobile rolled off the line, putting Buffalo on the car-making map. Within a year Pierce was producing some of the biggest and most expensive automobiles in the country.
George Pierce's creation became one of the most popular luxury cars in the world, ordered by royalty and the wealthy world-wide. Not bad for a kid from Friendsville, Pennsylvania who arrived in Buffalo four decades earlier at the tender age of 17.
Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum founder James Sandoro explains how Pierce first arrived in town.
"In 1869 he came here from Pennsylvania and started to make bird cages and ice boxes."
Pierce came to the Queen City hoping to strike it rich, by building things for the wealthy. In the late 1800's, the Erie Canal and the banking industry made Buffalo a major player, the gateway to the west, one of the largest rail systems in the country.
The wealth built, and the wealthy built homes. Millionaire's Row started to spring up along Delaware Avenue and a young George Pierce went into business with two local men to form Heinz, Pierce and Munshauer.
Now you might be thinking, sure, the ice boxes make sense, but you may be wondering right now, bird cages?
Sandoro explains that he understands that many of the wealthy had a birdcage in every room.
It wasn't because the wealthy were avid ornithologists, it was for a much more practical reason.
"We had wealthy people here. We were the richest city in the world of that era. The rich people had big homes on Delaware and wherever, and gas had no smell before 1900, so that was their last alternative to get out of the house. If the bird fell, get out of the room or get out of the house."
Yes, they were the original C.O. detectors.
Ultimately Pierce branched out on his own, opening his own factory at Hanover and Prime streets, where Canalside stands today.
He expanded his product line to include children's toys and bicycles. That, logically, rolled right into the auto biz, and in 1907, the official headquarters of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company opened it's doors at 1695 Elmwood Avenue, currently the home to the Pierce Arrow Lofts.