The Poca Post announces the release of a new stamp honoring the early automaker, Stanley Beemer

Stanley Beemer made one of the earliest automobiles to be seen on the Poca River. His most successful automobile was produced in 1889 by the Beemer Motor Works in Buffalo-on-the-Poca, West Virginia. The model was called the Stanley Beemer Steamer.

The power for his inventive steam engine came from the gases that resulted from the decomposition of horse manure.  This worked very well as long as the machine burned the fumes, but when parked for any time, the excess fumes were vented.  Needless to say, this was not pleasant to those in the vicinity. As a result, Beemer’s automobile never really won wide-spread acceptance.

However, Beemer persisted in the enterprise, but as automobiles replaced the horse, it became more and more difficult to find fuel. Beemer then turned to pig droppings for fuel. This worked very well since the pig manure produced more methane, but the venting became so much of a problem that his automobiles were officially and legally banned from the streets in the summer time. This was the death knell for the Stanley Beemer Steamer, and by 1901, Beemer’s invention was just a memory.

The stamp was issued on July 10, 2001 in a pane of 24 stamps, and in the denomination of 61 pu.