Elmer Lovejoy

If you have a garage door opener, thank Elmer Lovejoy. March 26, 1918, the Laramie inventor received a patent for the first garage door tracking system.

If you have a garage door opener, thank Elmer Lovejoy. March 26, 1918, the Laramie inventor received a patent for the first garage door tracking system.

Next time you open your garage door, thank Elmer Lovejoy. 96 years ago, on May 17, 1921, the Laramie native patented a tracking system for automatic door openers. It wasn't the only important invention of Lovejoy's legendary career. After opening a bicycle shop, Lovejoy built Wyoming's first "horseless carriage" in 1898...

When his family first moved to Wyoming in 1884, Elmer Lovejoy already had the need for speed. By the age of 12, Lovejoy was working for the family business; a bicycle shop in downtown Laramie. As word slowly spread about the invention of a new gasoline powered automobile in 1886, Lovejoy set out to build his own "horseless carriage"...