‘Father of New York subway’ to be honoured in hometown

A STRABANE native hailed as the ‘father of the New York subway’ will be commemorated with a blue plaque, which is being erected in his hometown later this month.

Businessman and financier, Alexander Ector Orr (pictured), will be the latest prominent local figure to be honoured with a plaque. It will be unveiled by the Ulster History Circle at the Bowling Green on Thursday, August 22.

Born in Strabane in 1831, the young Alexander fell in love with America while travelling through the country in 1850 and the following year, permanently moved to New York City, becoming the first of his family to do so. He worked as a clerk before meeting David Dows in 1858, the largest grain dealer in the country.

After joining the company and marrying Dow’s daughter Julia – his first wife – his prominence rose and became a partner in only three years and soon became the dominant member of the firm, a force in the city’s Produce Exchange, helping erect a new building for the Exchange as well as New York’s Chamber of Commerce, serving as vice-president and then president of the latter between 1889-94 and 1894-99 respectively.

In 1894, Orr was appointed a member of the Rapid Transit Commission (RTC), created by the state legislature to draw up plans for a comprehensive transit system in New York City and to contract for its construction and operation. Orr became president of the RTC until 1907, overseeing the beginning what would become the busiest mass transit system in the world.

At the time, the magazine, World’s Weekly, noted, “It is a cheerful fact that the costliest municipal convenience ever constructed has been free from corruption and free from political management and has been built without scandal; and very much of the credit for this historic achievement belongs to Mr Alexander E Orr.”

Alexander Orr died on March 2, 1831 in New York City, leaving behind second wife Margaret Shippen Orr and three daughters Mary, Jane and Juliet.

So, next time you set foot on the New York subway, remember it was down to a Strabane man!