Sylvester Marsh

author

Sylvester Marsh

Best known for turning a bold mountain-climbing idea into reality, this American inventor and businessman created the Mount Washington Cog Railway, a project many people first thought was impossible. His story blends practical business skill with stubborn imagination.

1 Audiobook

Section-Cutting A Practical Guide to the Preparation and Mounting of Sections for the Microscope, Special Prominence Being given to the Subject of Animal Sections

Section-Cutting A Practical Guide to the Preparation and Mounting of Sections for the Microscope, Special Prominence Being given to the Subject of Animal Sections

by Sylvester Marsh

About the author

Born in Campton, New Hampshire, in 1803, he had little formal schooling and began his working life in trade. Over the years he built a successful career in provisioning, grain, and related businesses in places including Boston, Ohio, and Chicago before returning to New England.

He is remembered above all for designing and building the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire, the first mountain-climbing cog railway in the world. After climbing Mount Washington in the 1850s, he became determined to create a railway to the summit, even though the idea was widely doubted.

Construction began in the 1860s, and the railway opened in stages, proving that his rack-and-pinion system could handle the steep ascent. He died in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1884, but the railway he pioneered remains the achievement most closely tied to his name.