Traffic light history is a surprisingly tricky subject.
Temporary versions popped up in London (in 1868) and Salt Lake City (in 1912), but Cleveland gets all the credit for the first permanent electric traffic signal in 1914. From there, the details diverge wildly.
Some sources name Garrett Morgan as the inventor, while others point out that his three-signal device wasn’t created until 1923. What gives?
“The 1914 traffic signal and Morgan’s invention were actually two completely different things,” says Ed Pershey, vice president of special projects and exhibits at the Western Reserve Historical Society.
With traffic fatalities on the rise, the American Traffic Signal Co. installed electric red and green lights at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street on Aug. 5, 1914. Suspended 15 feet above the intersection, the lights brought order to a dangerous spot.
Unlike the predecessors in London and Salt Lake City, Cleveland’s red-green signal stood the test of time. It worked so well, in fact, that the Chicago Police Department visited Cleveland later that year to study the new approach to traffic safety. But changing immediately from green to red wasn’t entirely safe, either.
“Cars on the road were increasing,” says Pershey, “and the difference in speed and power between 1914 and 1923 made it quite dangerous.”
Enter Morgan, the prolific African American inventor, and his three-signal brainchild. By adding a third step to the device — an all-position stop that allowed intersections to clear out before traffic could resume in the opposite direction — he took road safety up another notch.
“Morgan understood the need for traffic control in a growing city like Cleveland,” says Pershey.
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