The Kissel Motor Car Company, located across the river from this site, manufactured vehicles for 25 years from 1906 until 1931, including passenger cars, trucks, ambulances, funeral cars, taxicabs, and fire trucks. In 1918 the company introduced a line of low, graceful, sporty cars that were style leaders for years, and its Gold Bug and White Eagle Speedster models achieved international acclaim and brought many celebrity purchasers to Hartford. The lasting beauty of these designs later made them prized collector’s items. The company grew from the Kissel family’s own steam car, which inspired brothers George and William to build a gasoline-powered car in 1905. On June 6, 1906, they acquired a state charter and began manufacturing with only $15,000 cash. By 1922 the business had grown to an enterprise worth over $3 million, and in its peak year it built some 4,000 units. The company became a casualty of the Great Depression in 1931 as an automobile producer, but it was reorganized and went on to manufacture a variety of products, including government material during World War II.