George William Lorimer (1874-1932) – He was born in Ontario, Canada and moved to Piqua in 1897. With his brother J. Hoyt Lorimer, he patented an automatic telephone exchange system in the 1890’s. He served as the superintendent of the Callender Telephone Exchange Company which moved into the former Brendel Furniture factory on South Street near South Main Street in 1897 to manufacture the new Lorimer System. The company was re-organized as the American Machine Telephone Company about 1900 with Lorimer as the corporate secretary-treasurer. The firm moved its plant to the southwest corner of Wayne and Sycamore Streets and stayed in Piqua until about 1909-1910 when most of the patents were transferred to the Bell Telephone Company. Another Lorimer invention, a foundry sand mixer, led to the creation of the Auto Sand Mixer Company in 1906 with Lorimer as president. In c. 1913, Lorimer had established the G.W. Lorimer Company at 704 West Ash Street as an experimental laboratory for new mechanical devices. He served as Piqua’s mayor (Republican) in 1914 and 1915. He was one of the primary promoters of the rebuilding of the Shawnee Bridge after its destruction during the 1913 Flood. At the bridge’s dedication it was named the Lorimer Bridge in his honor. Lorimer was an early tinker/inventor. He built and drove Piqua’s first automobile in 1900. In 1905, he purchased a six-cylinder Franklin, still one of the very few automobile owners in the city. Lorimer helped organize and served as the first president of the Piqua Historical Society in 1912. He moved to Troy by 1920 and established the Lorimer Manufacturing Company to produce phonograph motors.
