The Peru Gazette

August 22, 2:30 pm. The History of the Lozier Company and Family with Dick Soper, The Grand Room, Meadowbrook Healthcare, 154 Prospect Ave., Plattsburgh. Lake Forest Senior Retirement Community, 8 Lake Forest Drive, Plattsburgh.

The Lozier story includes rarely seen photos of the family and company operations. Henry Abrahm Lozier was an Indiana-born sewing machine and bicycle manufacturer.  After selling his bicycle business, Lozier moved to Plattsburgh to manufacture boats and marine engines. In 1905 he started the Lozier Automobile Company and entered the automobile manufacturing business.  He produced the luxury Lozier, in Plattsburgh, from 1900 to 1915. Loziers were top line luxury cars and for a time were the most expensive cars produced in the United States. The 1910 model featured cars priced between $4,600 and $7,750. That same year, a Cadillac could be bought for about $1,600 and a Packard for about $3,200.  A pre-assembly line Ford Model T of the same year retailed at approximately $850 and the average annual salary in America was approximately $750.

Mr. Soper was born in Plattsburgh and served in the US Air Force, stationed in Germany, in the field of Communication.   His vast experiences in the area of transportation included work at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in Connecticut where he built jet aircraft engines.  He also worked at Bombardier Transportation building passenger rail cars.  For 12 years he has worked at the Champlain Valley Transportation Museum as Director of Exhibits. He is currently a member of the Clinton County Historical Association’s Board of Trustees.