When automobiles started appearing on US roads around 1900, the technology for a steam powered automobile had already been around since the late 1700's. Clean, quiet, and world-record fast, steamers led the United States market for motor carriages.
In 1899, Gilbert Waters traveled to Baltimore where he saw the future: self-propelled vehicles motoring down the streets. Back in his New Bern workshop, Waters created the Buggymobile, possibly the first automobile built in the south. Early on, the principal difference between Gilbert Waters and his contemporary Henry Ford was that one secured funding for a new business.