Passenger lifts (elevators) with electric drive are the technical equipment of modern office, hotel, public and residential buildings. While at the turn of the 20th century they were still luxury amenities, these material handling devices have now become an integral part of multi-story buildings. Recognizing a gap in the state of knowledge about the history of this branch of technology, the author undertook research as part of a project entitled “Development of the design of lifting equipment in the Polish lands from the 19th to the middle of the 20th century,” funded by a research grant from the National Science Center. This article on the history of lifting equipment in Grudziadz presents only a fraction of the results obtained during the entire project. It outlines information acquired from an archival query at the State Archives in Toruń and inventory research, analyzed in relation to a broader study covering the entire area of present-day Poland. A more detailed description is given of the historic electric-powered passenger elevator preserved in the tenement building at 31 Legionów Street.
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