A short history of the beam engine in America

Beam engines introduced America to the steam age and powered the nation's progress for much of the 19th century, spearheading the navigation of its inland waterways, powering its mills and manufacturing industry, enabling the mining of its deep mineral resources, and supplying its growing cities with water. Development of the beam engine in America lagged that in Britain and Europe but followed a similar evolution until its displacement by other forms of steam engine and by electricity at the end of the 19th century. Development started with the introduction of America's first beam engine, imported from Britain in 1755, progressed through the rapid growth of American-built engines, and culminated in the mid- to late-19th century in the metropolitan waterworks of the American Midwest and East, in the deep mines of the American West, and in the paddle steamers that first brought America together.