New Blog 1: Lake Morey Resort

Saturday 3 November 2012

Lake Morey Resort

In 1792, about 100 years before the Hotel was built, local inventor Samuel Morey launched a small boat equipped with a steam engine on Lake Morey. Along its bow was a single paddle wheel to propel this craft. More commonly known as a steamboat, Mr. Morey invented his boat nearly 20 years before Robert Fulton's Clermont. Mr. Fulton took advantage of a loophole in the U.S. Patent Morey was issued, thereby receiving the recognition of becoming the first to invent the steamboat.

Still determined, Morey returned to his hometown of Orford and continued to experiment with various methods of power by combining water, carbon, and air. This led to his "Gas or Vapor" engine in 1826, becoming the first to invent the internal-combustion engine which later was used to propel most modes of mechanical transportation, including automobiles.