Invention of the Typewriter
Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
Marker Inscription
Invention of the typewriter. At 318 State Street, approximately 300 feet northeast of here, C. Latham Sholes perfected the first practical typewriter in September, 1869. Here he worked during the summer with Carlos Glidden, Samuel W. Soule, and Matthias Schwalbach in the machine shop of C. F. Kleinsteuber. During the next six years, money for further development of the typewriter was advanced by James Densmore, who later gained the controlling interest and sold it to E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, N.Y.
Erected by Wisconsin Historical Society
The Story
In the summer of 1869, in a Milwaukee machine shop, printer and inventor C. Latham Sholes and his collaborators perfected the first practical typewriter. Backing from James Densmore carried the design through years of refinement until it was sold to E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, New York, whose factories brought the machine to the world.
Why it matters
The typewriter transformed business, journalism, and the office—and opened new careers to American women.
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Related people
- · C. Latham Sholes
- · Carlos Glidden
- · Samuel W. Soule
- · Matthias Schwalbach
- · James Densmore
Themes & tags
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