Lakewood Lore

Lakewood's Baker was king of electric automobiles

Perchance you may remember hearing Grandpa talk about electric automobiles -- those high coupes with carriage styling, crystal flower vases and tillers instead of steering wheels. They were crankless, fumeless vehicles of modest speed and were as quiet, clean and sedate as the matrons and little old ladies who so frequently drove them.

In 1900, they accounted for 38 percent of the nation's car market. And the man who produced more of them than any other manufacturer was a Lakewoodite -- Walter C. Baker.

Baker who lived for 46 years at 18131 West Clifton Road in Clifton Park, was an engineer and inventor. He was born in Hinsdale N.H., in 1868 and brought to Cleveland by his parents when he was 3 years old.

His father, George W. Baker, helped found White Sewing Machine and Cleveland Machine Screw companies. Walter was graduated from Case School of Applied Science in 1891 and married Fannie Elizabeth White the same year. In 1895, he helped form American Ball Bearing Co. in Cleveland to produce axles for horse-drawn vehicles. Subsequently, he served as the firm's president and adapted its bearings to the auto industry.

Walter and a partner, F. Philip Dorn, built an electric-powered car in 1897 and a year later organized the Baker Motor Vehicle Co. It was on what is now Cleveland's East 69th Street. Its cars, which introduced the left-handed streering system, sold for $850.

With output increased to 400 units a year, Baker moved to a new plant on West 83rd Street, north of Detroit Avenue, in 1905. Two years later, he added an electric truck model to his vehicle production mix.

In 1915, the company merged with Rauch & Lang Carriage Co. to form Baker, Rauch & Lang Co., and the last Baker Electric was made the following year.

The electrics were urban cars which preferred paved city streets to bumpy country roads that would shake them to pieces. The major problem was the power, however. Batteries were heavy, took up too much room and deteriorated rapidly.

And even though motoring range on a single charge was extended to about 80 miles by 1910, charging facilities cost quite a bit and were not rapidly available outside metropolitan areas.

Also, electrics were slow movers, with the exception of one of Baker's experimental racers, the "Torpedo," which boasted it could do 120 mph.

His innovativeness extended to his Clifton Park, Lakewood, home where he wired up various bells, signals and intercoms.

On the garage floor, he installed a large concrete and steel disk that served as a turnaround for his electric cars.

The home was originally built for Charles N. Church in 1901. In 1906, it was bought by James Wigmore and enlarged.

Three years later, Baker moved in and, in 1911, added an adjoining lot to the property. Our auto poineer died in the residence in 1955 at age 86.

This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post July 20, 1989. Reprinted with permission.

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