Montgomery was founded in 1887, and twelve years later, a town resident purchased a horseless carriage. According to the Montgomery Centennial history book, the first automobile was responsible for “causing much excitement among the citizens” when it rolled through the streets in July of 1899. The owner’s name wasn’t listed.

While horseless carriages were a technological marvel, only the affluent could afford them until Henry Ford established the assembly line in 1913.

Even after the first one came to Montgomery, they weren’t a common sight.

Montgomery resident Jim Harman shared that his grandfather, Paul Harman, told him about seeing an automobile for the first time. Paul Harman was born in 1899 and lived on the far end of North Main Street, not too far from the Narrows. One day when he was about five years old, he was playing outside in his front yard. He heard a “terrible racket” and when he looked down Main Street to see what was causing the noise, he saw a carriage with four people in it. He was shocked that the carriage not only made a loud noise, it didn’t have any horses and was moving by itself. Paul was so frightened by it that he started crying and ran into his house to find his mother. She had to explain to him that it was a new invention called an “automobile.”

For those who did own horseless carriages, they had to drive to Muncy to buy gasoline. But this wasn’t necessarily an easy trip because the road was a cinder path (Montgomery Centennial history book).

Automobiles weren’t just driven in Montgomery, they also served as inspiration for an aspiring inventor. The Williamsport News reported on January 15, 1907, “Messers J.K. Koons, W.W. Rishell and C.B. Henderson went to New York to attend an automobile exhibition, taking with them the late patent of J.K. Koons, which they will try to introduce among the automobile manufacturers.”

The Montgomery Centennial history book said that the device he invented was a gear, and noted, “Mr. Koons was employed in the Machine Shop and was very knowledgeable about machinery and it’s part[s].” No further information was available about the patent.

By the summer of 1912, there were a couple of automobiles that were owned by Montgomery residents. W.E. Frey owned a store on South Main Street, and in August of 1912 he put a gasoline pump in front of his store. It was the town’s first gas pump according to the Montgomery Centennial history book.

Another convenience for not only drivers, but for everyone, was when Montgomery decided to pave Main Street and Montgomery Street with bricks. The work began in June of 1914. Up until then, all of the streets in Montgomery were dirt roads which could be difficult to travel when they turned muddy. It was also good for local businesses. Their shops and offices were cleaner because customers weren’t tracking in dust when the weather was dry (Montgomery Centennial history book).

In 1915, C. L. Hulsizer transitioned his blacksmith shop to a car dealership. The business originally sold cars built by the Ford Motor Company, and ten years later the business changed over to selling Chevrolet vehicles according to www.hulsizerchevrolet.com.

In October of 1932, Montgomery placed a traffic light at the intersection of Houston Avenue and Main Street. On December 5 of that same year, the traffic light was taken down after a vote by the townspeople according to the handwritten Montgomery Mirror Journal, from the Montgomery Area Historical Society’s collection.

Eventually automobiles phased out the horse and carriage. Mary Banghart wrote down some of her early memories of Montgomery that were published in the “Montgomery Area Bicentennial Celebration” book. She wrote a piece in February, 1976 at the age of 92. She shared, “…the last horse and carriage replaced by the automobile [was] owned by Sumner Leonard, who never learned to drive it, but his wife, a sturdy, up and coming woman, took him to work in the morning and went for him at 5:00. We could hear it coming a mile away, and ran to the road to watch the dust fly as they drove by.”

Now the only carriages and buggies in the Montgomery area are owned by the Amish.