#3. Morgan Engineering Invents the Traveling Overhead Crane
During the lifetime of Thomas R. Morgan, Sr., many notable milestones in the history of the company occurred, among them, the first Overhead Travelling Crane ever built in the United States in 1878; the first Electric Overhead Travelling Crane built in the world, 1881; the first Electric Overhead Cranes ever installed in a steel mill, thirteen 10-ton capacity cranes for the Homestead Steel Works 1893; a 25-ton double trolley overhead crane exhibited at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, for which the Morgan Engineering Company was awarded a special Diploma of Achievement. Also during this period the long association between the company and the United States Ordnance Department was begun, the most noteworthy achievement being the construction of the Gordon 10 in. Disappearing Gun Carriage in 1894. This immense gun mount designed for coast defense weighed more than three hundred tons, and at the time was the largest gun mount ever built in the United States. During the Spanish-American War, many additional gun carriages were built, and a company of Pennsylvania National Guard was assigned by the War Department to guard the plant.