The Enduring Corliss Steam Engine

The Corliss name can be found on many engines, and there’s an interesting reason why.

By Sam Moore
Published on November 7, 2017
article image
by Appleton’s 1885 Cyclopaedia of Applied Mechanics.
A contemporary woodcut of the Corliss Centennial engine as set up in Machinery Hall.

In my travels to various steam shows over the past 25 or 30 years, I’ve often seen large stationary steam engines (usually at shows that have their own permanent grounds) with the name “Corliss” on them.

I never thought much about what that name meant until Farm Collector Editor Leslie C. McManus asked me about it. There’s a very good reason so many engines made by various manufacturers bear the name Corliss tacked on behind the builder’s name, and it’s an interesting story.

George Henry Corliss was born in Easton, New York, on June 2, 1817. His father was a doctor and moved the family to Greenwich, New York, where George attended school and then worked as a clerk in a cotton factory before going to Castleton Academy in Vermont for three years. In 1838, he opened a general store in Greenwich.

Online Store Logo
Need Help? Call 1-866-624-9388