1899 Automobile Trip
Forney, Kaufman County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On October 5, 1899, Edward H. R. Green drove his newly-acquired "St. Louis" automobile from Terrell to Dallas. Accompanied by the car's manufacturer, George B. Dorris, Green passed through Forney on his historic journey. The five-and-one-half-hour, thirty-mile trip was marked by an accident in Forney, necessitating repairs to the automobile by a local blacksmith. Upon their arrival in Dallas, Green and Dorris were met by a cheering crowd. Hailed as a first in Texas, the automobile trip caused a sensation in area newspapers and among local citizens. (1990)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On October 5, 1899, Edward H. R. Green set out from Terrell for Dallas in a newly bought "St. Louis" automobile, joined by its maker, George B. Dorris. The thirty-mile trip took five and a half hours and included a breakdown in Forney patched up by a local blacksmith. When the pair rolled into Dallas to a cheering crowd, newspapers hailed it as a first for Texas.
Why it matters
This wobbling little journey marked the arrival of the automobile in Texas, a preview of the machine that would remake the state's towns, roads, and daily life within a generation.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In 1899 the automobile was still a strange, noisy novelty. Inventors in Europe and the United States had been building workable motor cars for only a few years. Most Americans had never seen one, and almost none owned one. Roads were made for horses and wagons: dirt tracks that turned to dust or mud depending on the weather.
Texas was a horse-and-railroad state. Towns like Terrell, Forney, and Dallas were linked by rail, and the railroads carried people and freight over long distances. Short trips still meant a horse, a buggy, or your own two feet. The idea of driving thirty miles in a self-propelled machine was close to science fiction.
Across the country, small companies were experimenting with gasoline, steam, and electric power, and nobody knew yet which would win. It was a time of tinkering and big claims, and every early drive was part demonstration, part adventure, and part gamble.
People & events
On October 5, 1899, Edward H. R. Green set out from Terrell for Dallas in his newly bought "St. Louis" automobile. Green was the son of Hetty Green, the famously rich and famously thrifty financier, and he was living in Texas at the time. Riding with him was George B. Dorris, the man who built the car, so it was a little like having the inventor along to watch his invention face its biggest test.
The trip wasn't smooth. The thirty miles took five and a half hours, which is slower than a brisk bicycle ride. In Forney the car had an accident and needed repairs. The man who fixed it was the local blacksmith, a craftsman more used to horseshoes and wagon wheels than motor cars. It's a perfect picture of an age in transition: the old trades patching up the new machine so it could keep going.
When Green and Dorris finally reached Dallas, a cheering crowd met them. Newspapers called the trip a first for Texas, and it caused a sensation. For many people who read about it, this was their first real sense that the automobile had arrived in their part of the world.
Its place in the American story
This bumpy little drive is part of how the automobile went from curiosity to necessity. Across the country around the turn of the century, early motorists were proving that cars could actually get from one town to another. Every successful trip, breakdowns and all, made the machine seem a bit less ridiculous and a bit more possible.
Within a generation, cars would remake American life. Paved highways, gas stations, motels, and suburbs all followed. Texas, with its huge distances, would become one of the most car-dependent places in the country. The road between Terrell and Dallas that took Green most of a day is now a fast highway drive.
The blacksmith's repair in Forney is a fitting symbol too. Early car culture depended on the skills already in small towns. Over time, many blacksmith shops became garages, and the people who once shod horses learned to fix engines.
If you visit
The marker is in Forney, a town between Terrell and Dallas along the route of that first drive. Stand here and picture a lone, sputtering car rolling into town, then breaking down, with a curious crowd gathering while the blacksmith went to work.
This stop is a natural for a road trip, since you're likely driving the same corridor yourself. You'll cover in minutes what took Green and Dorris hours. That contrast is the whole point, and it's worth a moment's thought.
To follow the story from end to end, make it a short history drive: start toward Terrell, stop in Forney, and finish in Dallas, where the crowd once cheered the travelers in.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Edward H. R. Green
- · George B. Dorris
Related events
- · First automobile trip in Texas
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Major W.F. Long
Terrell, TX
William Francis "Bill" Long came to Texas as a teenager and found his life's work in the air, flying as an observer with an aero squadron in World War I before building a chain of flight schools across the state. Known as "Mr. Love Field," he trained pilots and mechanics through the 1920s and 30s, then answered the nation's call as war loomed again. During World War II his four schools trained roughly a tenth of U.S. Army aviators and a third of Britain's RAF cadets who came to America, including the No. 1 British Flying Training School at Terrell.
Dixie Overland Highway (U. S. Highway 80)
Forney, TX
In the early automobile age, before the interstate system, private road associations promoted coast-to-coast routes that states and towns then paved piecemeal. The Dixie Overland Highway, launched by Savannah, Georgia, boosters in 1914 as an 'all-seasons' route, ran through 75 counties — including Kaufman — on its way west, though travelers here battled the notorious muddy, flood-prone 'Forney Gap.' Much of the route became U.S. Highway 80 in 1926 and was later superseded by Interstate 20.
Forney
Forney, TX
Long before Anglo settlers arrived, a Native American path known as the Kickapoo Trace crossed this land, and pioneer families like the Briscoes and Sheltmans settled here in the mid-1840s. When the Texas & Pacific Railroad pushed through in 1873, the nearby village of Brooklyn shifted to this spot and took the name Forney for a noted railroad official; by 1891 it boasted more than fifty businesses, an opera house, and a booming trade in cotton, Bois d'Arc products, and prized blackland hay. After decades of Depression-era decline, Forney was reborn as a growing suburb of Dallas.
Hillcrest Cemetery
Forney, TX
The oldest marked grave here, that of M. Elizabeth Collins (1813–1867), predates the founding of Forney itself. When the railroad town took shape, the site was platted in 1880 as a public cemetery and later enlarged with adjoining land—early upkeep even included a short-lived experiment of grazing sheep on the grounds. Those buried at Hillcrest include pioneer settlers, community leaders, and five known Civil War veterans.