Antique Electric Car Donated To Ellwood House Museum

With gasoline now pushing $4.00 per gallon, a possible solution to high fuel prices can now be found at the Ellwood House Museum. The car is a “Milburn Light Electric” manufactured in 1921. The antique automobile was recently donated to the museum by Edward L. Mayo, a great-grandson of Isaac Ellwood. With growing concern over global warming and increased interest in conservation, the gift is a timely one and a most important addition to the museum’s collection.

The “Milburn Light Electric” outside of the Ellwood House Visitor Center. The original part of this building was built as a 5-car garage in the 1910s.

The Milburn car is powered by an electric motor located below the seat. The front hood and the “trunk” hold the batteries. Today the car runs on 14 golf cart batteries. Instead of a steering wheel, the car is driven by two levers or tillers. One lever steers the car, the other controls the speed—there are 4 forward and 2 reverse speeds. The car has a maximum speed of about 30 mph and a range of 60-100 miles before the batteries needed recharging. The Ellwood House vehicle is fully operational and has been driven in parades in Wisconsin in recent years.

The “Milburn Light Electric” interior showing "tillers" used for steering.

Milburn Light Electric cars were manufactured in Toledo, Ohio from 1915-1923. It is believed that a total of 3,500 vehicles were produced during these eight years. Even though the Milburn was one of the less expensive electric cars then on the market, the car originally sold for $1,485-$1,885. During this same time period, the price of a “Model T” Ford automobile fell from $850 in 1915 to only $300 in 1925.

There were more than 25 U.S. manufacturers of electric automobiles in the early 20th century. Electric cars were always significantly more expensive than competing gasoline-powered autos. They were largely marketed to wealthy city-dwellers who could drive them around town where recharging was not a problem. The cars were also popular among women drivers because they cars were easy to start—simply turn a switch, no hand-cranking needed. They were also cleaner to drive.

According to Ellwood House Museum director Jerry Brauer, May Ellwood drove a Woods Electric, a car model manufactured in Chicago in the early 20th century. The vehicle was garaged in the building which now forms part of the Ellwood House Visitor Center. Donor Ed Mayo, who grew up in DeKalb in the 1930s and 1940s, remembers that the charging mechanism for the car’s batteries was still located in one of the garage bays when he was a boy. This room now holds the Ellwood House Museum gift shop.

Milburn was one of last manufacturers of electric cars in the pre-modern era. The greater range of gasoline automobiles without the trouble of recharging batteries and their cheaper price soon doomed the early electric cars. In 1923 the Milburn company was purchased by General Motors to build bodies for Buick and Oldsmobile cars and the “Light Electric” was abandoned. Only a few dozen remain today.

The Milburn Light Electric can be seen at the Ellwood House Visitor Center. Hours are 10:30am-4:30pm daily except Mondays.