#65 Evinrude Outboard Motor

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1909

Early model of outboard motor for small boats, now standard

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This outboard motor, designed and built by Ole Evinrude (1877-1934) at the Evinrude Motor Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was quickly accepted by the boating public of the United States. Bess Evinrude called the prototype a "coffee grinder," but it moved a boat through water better than the huge steam- or foot-driven motors available in 1907. She encouraged him to build and sell ten, then twenty, soon resulting in the redirection of their automotive equipment business to outboard motors. Its immediate success stimulated the formation of competing companies and created a new industry.

Evinrude built a 62-pound two-cycle internal combustion motor that ran at 1 1/2 horsepower at 1,000 revolutions per minute. The cylinder was horizontal, the crankshaft vertical, and the direction gears housed in a submerged unit. The design has remained standard for outboard motors.

Landmark Location

OMC Milwaukee
6101 N. 64th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53218

Owner, if different than above

Outboard Marine Corp.

Visiting Info

regular hours and by appointment

Ceremony Notes

June 1981