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Crescent Carriage Co. was established by S.E. Beach and J.S. Stockwell.
Crescent exemplified the evolution from wagon to carriage by occupying the
former site of Taylor Wagon Works to conduct operations. Edward Murphy, an
associate of Beach and founder of Pontiac Buggy Co., was a partner in this
company as well. In 1907, four of the early Oakland, two-cylinder vehicles
engineered by Alan Brush were hand-built on the premises.
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Pontiac had been producing carriages on a small scale for several years
when, in 1886, Charles Vliet Taylor convinced local citizens to
raise/contribute money to build a new carriage factory that could produce
carriages for wholesale distribution. Taylor's carriage business took off.
Taylor carriages were sold across the U.S. and by 1900, the company was
producing 8,000 vehicles per year. Charles V. Taylor's entrepreneurial
success was instrumental in influencing others to explore the business of
carriage production. Carriage production in turn, was a predecessor to the
booming automotive industry. Taylor went on to sell his company to Edward
Murphy, S.E. Beach and J.S. Stockwell; the site was re-established as
Crescent Vehicle Company.
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