Few People Know Oklahoma Was Home To The First Parking Meter In America
By Ashley|Published April 05, 2023
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Ashley
Author
Ashley has lived in Oklahoma for 25 years and is the Oklahoma staff writer for onlyinyourstate.com. When she isn't exploring Oklahoma, she enjoys visiting the beaches of California.
If you’ve ever been frustrated by searching for parking and worrying about getting a ticket, you can thank Oklahoma City for introducing the world’s first parking meter in 1935. That’s right, Oklahoma was the birthplace of the parking meter, and it all started with a man named Carl C. Magee. Keep reading to learn more about this cool piece of Oklahoma history.
Magee was a journalist and inventor who had grown tired of the chaotic parking situation in downtown Oklahoma City.
The streets were filled with cars, and there was no regulation or organization to keep them from blocking traffic or taking up valuable space. He proposed the idea of a parking meter to the city council as a way to create order and generate revenue for the city.
The council was skeptical at first, but Magee persisted, and after some convincing, they agreed to try out his invention.
After several failed attempts at finding a solution, he settled on the idea of charging drivers for their parking time with small coins dropped into a “park-o-meter”.
The response from the public was mixed. Some saw the parking meter as a nuisance, while others welcomed it as a way to ensure a parking spot when they needed it.
In its first year, Oklahoma City's parking meters generated $3,541, which was used to fund the police department's new radio system. Other cities soon followed suit, and the parking meter became a ubiquitous part of the urban landscape.
Today, the parking meter has undergone many changes and upgrades, but its basic design and function remain the same.
The next time you find yourself feeding coins into a parking meter, take a moment to appreciate the history behind this ubiquitous invention. And remember, it all started in Oklahoma City, where a journalist and inventor named Carl C. Magee saw a problem and came up with a solution that changed the world.
Check out this video by OETA to learn more about the world’s first parking meter:
