Granville T. Woods

During Black history month we celebrate and highlight Granville T. Woods.

Granville T. Woods was a Black American inventor of more than a dozen transportation devices in the 1800s, and more than 60 patents for his various inventions. He invented and introduced the first electric powered roller coaster – The Figure 8 – at Coney Island and made subway travel possible in NYC with his patented third-rail system for conducting electric power to railway cars.  He died in 1910 and was buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery in East Elmhurst, N.Y.. In 2004, New York City honored Woods with a limited edition subway card and an exhibit about him was put on display at the Brooklyn Public Library. In 2008, the corner of Stillwell and Mermaid Avenues at Coney Island Brooklyn was named Granville T. Woods Way to honor Woods’ legacy at Coney Island.