PRINTER'S NO. 4153
No. 2731 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY S. MILLER, BOYD, CALTAGIRONE, CRAHALLA, GEIST,
GINGRICH, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, LEH, MAJOR, MARSICO, MUSTIO,
PALLONE, PARKER, SANTONI, SIPTROTH, E. Z. TAYLOR AND
YOUNGBLOOD, JUNE 7, 2006
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 7, 2006
AN ACT
1 Designating the Duryea as the official State automobile of the
2 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
3 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
4 (1) The Duryea vehicle is part of Pennsylvania's
5 automobile history and helped the Commonwealth mobilize its
6 citizens for a great adventure in the life-changing
7 transition in transportation from horse power to motor power.
8 (2) Pennsylvania's early efforts to build one of the
9 first extensive turnpikes in the United States in 1792, its
10 discovery of oil near Titusville in 1859 and its iron and
11 steel making industries all played a key role in making this
12 Commonwealth a major manufacturer of automobiles in the 20th
13 century.
14 (3) Charles E. Duryea manufactured three-wheeled and
15 four-wheeled vehicles during the 1900s in Reading, Berks
16 County, and was a leading automobile maker in the area for
17 more than a decade, and the Duryea vehicle was one of the
1 first successful gasoline automobiles in the United States.
2 (4) The manufacture of the Duryea was made possible by
3 the venture of local leaders and the high personal skills and
4 solid work ethic of Pennsylvania craftsmen.
5 (5) The popularity of the Duryea reached far across the
6 world, with one model order for Chinese Empress Dowanger
7 Tz'u-hsi in 1902.
8 (6) The Duryea was the first American production car.
9 (7) The Duryea led the way for men like Henry Ford to
10 mass-produce and sell automobiles at a price everyone could
11 afford.
12 (8) The mountain road where Charles Duryea's young
13 daughter test-drove the new cars still winds up the slopes
14 surrounding Reading and is now named Duryea Drive. Antique
15 and classic car enthusiasts navigate their way to Berks
16 County to celebrate Duryea Day in Boyertown on Labor Day
17 weekend.
18 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
19 hereby enacts as follows:
20 Section 1. Official State automobile.
21 The Duryea is hereby selected, designated and adopted as the
22 official State automobile of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
23 Section 2. Effective date.
24 This act shall take effect immediately.
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