First Cross-Country Automobile Trip

Horatio Nelson Jackson, accompanied by mechanic Sewall K. Crocker, made the first cross-country automobile trip in 1903, in a Winton automobile that was manufactured in Ohio.

By the mid-1890s, Alexander Winton, a bicycle manufacturer in Cleveland, Ohio, had become interested in designing an automobile. He built his first motorized vehicle in 1896. It looked rather strange by modern-day standards, as Winton used bicycle tires in his first design. He organized the Winton Motor Carriage Company on March 15, 1897, and on March 24, 1898, became known for the first commercial sale of an automobile in the United States.

Like many automobile manufacturers, Winton used races and cross-country tours to promote his product and test innovations in designs. Jackson's successful cross-country trip helped establish the reliability of automobiles made by the Winton Motor Carriage Company.

Although Winton's automobile feats were well known, the Winton Motor Carriage Company was struggling by the 1920s, as the automobile industry became more competitive. Every Winton automobile was custom made. Assembly lines made other companies' vehicles less expensive to build. In 1924, Winton stopped producing automobiles entirely.