History of the Westinghouse Company
George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse

George Westinghouse was born in Central Bridge, New York on October 6, 1846, and was the eighth of ten children. When he was ten his family moved to Schenectady where he learned to work with machinery in his father's shop. George refered to the knowledge that he gained then as his "greatest capital." George Westinghouse's life was full of accomplishments, founding 60 companies including the Westinghouse Electric Company, which was his probably his most notable accomplishment. He was more than anyone responsible for the development of alternating current, or AC electricity.


Westinghouse began his series of companies by starting the Westinghouse AirBrake Company in 1869. The idea for this came to George when he noticed the problems of the manual brakes that were used to stop trains. He then developed a system of using compressed air to stop trains that was much more reliable than previous methods. As rail traffic increased, he saw an need for improved signaling devices and switches. By combining compressed air and electricity, George started the Union Switch and Signal company in 1881. Next, he developed over twenty methods for controling and distributing natural gas, which led to a natural gas company in the Pittsburgh area. Again, using the technologly and knowledge from his previous accomplishments, George began developing devices that could distribute electricity over a large area in controlled amounts. On January 8, 1886 George Westinghouse was granted a charter for the Westinghouse Electric Company by Governor Pattison of Pennsylvania. By Spring of 1886 a transformer was designed that could supply lighting "that produces no odor, heat or danger of fire." When the company first began there were only 300 employees that worked at a rented plant in Pittsburgh. By 1890, Westinghouse installed over 300 central power stations and the annual sales totaled $4 million.
First Plant

Westinghouse was known to many as "the greatest living engineer," a title that almost no one could duspute. Despite all of his wealth and fame, George nevered abandoned his faithfulness to his employees. From the very begining of his career, the welfare of his employees was his main interest. An example of this was his policy for declaring Saturday as a half-holiday, which was unlike any other company policy during that time period. Up until his death in 1914, George Westinghouse made contributions to technology and industry that improved the way of life in remarkable ways. When Westinghouse was honored at the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, President Hoover said that the name Westinghouse "permeated all American industry." Following George's death, the company owners formed the Grievance Committee, which consisted of three shop men and three management members. The goal of the committe was to maintain their founder's ideals of working conditions, systems of work and limits. On September 10, 1932 the George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge opened in East Pittsburgh. For many years, the 460-foot center span was the longest concrete arch in the world.
Memorial Bridge
Here is a list of just some of Westinghouse's accomplishments from George's death to the present...

1915--Began producing rifles for Russian army
1920--Westinghouse KDKA radio broadcast of Harding-Cox election; first scheduled radio broadcast
1921--Built first factory-made radio receivers for home use
1924--Developed first reliable automatic electric iron
1947--Built first coal-fired steam-turbine electrin locomotive
1957--First nuclear power plant in US; located in Shippingport, PA
1969--Westinghouse cameras allowed us to see man walking on moon
1985--Westinghouse radars used in air traffic control to improve
commercial airline safety
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