Notable people · Inventor · Engineer
James Hoge
James Hoge was a Cleveland engineer who adapted railroad red/green signals and trolley-line power into a municipal traffic control system. A version was installed on August 5, 1914 at Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street and he received a patent in 1918.
At a glance
- Known as
- Inventor, Engineer
Life story
James Hoge was a Cleveland engineer. He took the red and green lights used on railroads and ran them on electricity from the trolley wires.
His signal was installed in 1914 at Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street. Two lights hung above the intersection and a police officer in a sidewalk booth worked the switch.
The city's safety director reported after a year that the system made traffic safer, sped it up and largely controlled pedestrians. Hoge received a patent in 1918.
The article read gives no birth or death dates or other life details for him.
Timeline
What James is known for
- Electric traffic signal at Euclid Ave. and E. 105th St., Cleveland, 1914
- Electric municipal traffic control system, installed 1914; patent 1918 (number not given in source)
Inventions and firsts
- Electric traffic signal at Euclid Ave. and E. 105th (1914) credit is disputed
Ohio places
Where James Hoge was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Worked: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County (Euclid Avenue at East 105th Street) ZIP 44106 · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- A Brief History of the Stoplight - Smithsonian 1914 install, 1918 patent, how it worked