Abstract:
As early as 1819, a new method of transportation had appeared on the American scene in the form of two wheels, separated by a wooden bar, on top of which was a padded seat. Called a draisine, for its inventor, Baron Von Drais, the contraption was manipulated by the push and coast method. In the early 1870s, the standard \"high wheel\" or \"ordinary\" bike was easily the favorite model of cyclists. The first bicycle owned in the state of North Carolina belonged to three businessmen in Wilmington who each contributed fifty dollars towards the total purchase price and placed an order for a Columbia bicycle with the Pope Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, Connecticut.