In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 1838
- Died
- 1918
- Birthplace
- Circleville, Ohio, United States
- Country
- United States
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- An 1887 patented mechanism for elevator shaft openings and cage doors
- Known for
- An 1887 patented mechanism for elevator shaft openings and cage doors
Why this life matters
An 1887 patented mechanism for elevator shaft openings and cage doors.
Timeline
Key moments
A barber and property owner in Duluth
Alexander Miles was born in Circleville, Ohio, in 1838. He worked as a barber in Wisconsin before building a successful business in Duluth, Minnesota. His activities included hair-care products and property investment. The Hall of Fame account records a building associated with the Miles Block in 1884. This entrepreneurial career provides context for his elevator work without proving a particular inspirational anecdote. Several stories explain what first drew his attention to elevator danger, and the institutional biography itself acknowledges that they differ.
Sources for this section: [1]
Two access problems in one patent
Miles's 1887 patent describes closing shaft openings above and below an elevator cage and operating the cage's own doors near a selected floor. The specification links a flexible belt with the shaft-opening problem and levers and rollers with the cage-door mechanism. These are related but separate functions. It also describes an operator engaging the mechanism, which prevents the design being mistaken for a completely autonomous modern lift. The objective was to reduce danger from openings left unclosed through neglect.
Sources for this section: [2]
Business and a specific contribution to safety
Miles later moved to Chicago, where he founded an insurance enterprise serving Black customers who faced exclusion, and then to Seattle. He died in 1918. His contribution belongs to the history of making elevators safer and more convenient, rather than invention of the elevator as a whole. Reading the patent makes that distinction concrete: it identifies particular openings, moving parts and operating conditions. His wider business history also shows that the inventor was a working entrepreneur whose career cannot be reduced to the date printed on one patent.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Alexander Miles
- What is Alexander Miles known for?
- An 1887 patented mechanism for elevator shaft openings and cage doors.
Keep exploring
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Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. National Inventors Hall of FameAlexander Miles
Actualbiographyread:1838โ1918, Circleville, barber/Duluthproperty,1884 building, Chicagoinsurance andSeattle. Conflictinginspirationanecdotesidentifiedasstories, notsettledfact.
- 2. Alexander Miles / United States Patent OfficeUS371207A: Elevator
Primary 1887 description read:May 23 application/October 11 grant, shaft-opening versuscagedoorobjectives, flexiblebelt, levers/rollers/grooves andoperatorengagement. Noelectronicinterlockorfullyautonomousoperationasserted.
