I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.
Conveyor-type grain elevators can be traced back to Buffalo, New York in the early 1840s. Buffalo enjoyed a geographic advantage of being at the intersection of two great water routes, one to the east and New York Harbor, and to the west in the Great Lakes.
It wouldn’t be long until ports along the Mississippi would compete with Buffalo and send goods to New Orleans. But until that time, merchant and engineer named Joseph Dart credited with developing a steam-powered grain elevator and storage system that would hold more grain and transport grain to boats seven times faster than humans.
That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.