STATEHOUSE (February 18, 2010) - State Sen. Jim Buck (R-Kokomo) paid tribute on Thursday to Jonathan Maxwell, an auto industry mogul from Howard County, by renaming part of an area highway after the businessman.

Members of the Indiana Senate honored contributions Maxwell made to the auto industry at the turn of the century, a time when Americans were just discovering the automobile. An architect of hundreds of innovative cars, Maxwell will have a section of Indiana 26 that runs east and west through the area named in his memory.

“Jonathan Maxwell began his career as a bicycle repairman and a machinist before becoming an engineer for Oldsmobile,” Buck said. “As the auto industry began booming in 1903, he saw an opportunity to start a company with Benjamin Briscoe, which came to be known as the Maxwell-Briscoe Company.”

Their factory in New Castle became the largest factory in the world for its time, producing more than 500 cars during its first year. As the Maxwell-Briscoe Company expanded, it became one of the most profitable car companies in the nation.

In 1910, Maxwell became vice president of the United States Motor Company after Maxwell-Briscoe merged with another automobile manufacturer.

Maxwell’s cars became iconic after gaining a reputation for their speed. In 1916, one of his cars set a cross-country record when the driver traveled from New Jersey to California in ten days. In another coast-to-coast trip, four female friends challenged stereotypes when they gathered in a Maxwell car to make the journey.

“Jonathan had a big hand in the development of the auto industry into a thriving industry in our nation,” Buck said. “I can think of no more fitting tribute than to name a portion of a highway-the “Crossroads of America”-after Jonathan Maxwell for his contributions to the automotive industry.”

Among Maxwell’s popular cars, the runabout became the first one to have the Maxwell name. An early version of Maxwell’s car is displayed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

Sen. Buck represents Senate District 21, which includes portions of Boone, Hamilton, Howard and Tipton counties.

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