Alfred Ely Beach and New York Subway  • Coming Soon to a New York Subway Near You The entombed station, was the creation of Alfred Ely Beach, an inventor whose vision of an underground railway for Manhattan led him to the secret construction of a New York subway. • Alfred Ely Beach and the  First - New York Subway Alfred Ely Beach built a pneumatic train - the first New York subway - a giant pneumatic tube - which ran for one block west of City Hall in 1870. • Secret, New York Subway "A tube, a car, a revolving fan! Little more is required!" Such was the proclamation made by Alfred Ely Beach in 1870.

Related Innovations • The Pneumatic Tube and the History of Pneumatic Devices

Alfred Ely Beach was an inventor and the editor and co-owner of "Scientific American." In the first issue of "Scientific American," it was announced that the magazine would help secure patents for U.S. inventors. Alfred Ely Beach was awarded patents for an improvement he made to the typewriter (1857), for a cable traction railway system (1864) and for a pneumatic transit system (pneumatic tube) for mail and passengers (1865).

In 1870, Alfred Ely Beach, tried to construct a prototype pneumatic train subway in New York City, this system failed to win over the municipal authorities, who later built elevated trains instead. Alfred Beach's pneumatic New York subway, a giant pneumatic tube ran for one block west of City Hall and was based on his 1865 patent. It was America's first subway. 

New York Subway System Opened for Business October 27, 1904

On Thursday afternoon, October 27, 1904, the mayor of New York City, George B. McClellan, officially opened the New York subway system. The first subway train left City Hall station with the mayor at the controls, and 26 minutes later arrived at 145th Street. The subway opened to the general public at 7 p.m. that evening, and before the night was over, 150,000 passengers had ridden the trains through the underground tunnels.

Alfred Ely Beach
born Sept. 1, 1826 , Springfield, Mass., U.S.
died Jan. 1, 1896 , New York, N.Y.

Photo Credit: "City Hall subway station, New York." Between 1900 and 1906. Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880 - 1920, Library of Congress.

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