PENNSYLVANIA

The earliest automobile regulations were accomplished by park commissions and city ordinances prior to the first state registration law of 1903, with Philadelphia's Fairmount Park being the first example documented with plates in 1900.  By 1902, the city of Philadelphia also required licensing, and even issued annual dated plates beginning in 1903.  Because the 1903 state law would not supercede a city ordinance if one already existed, Philadelphia continued to issue plates up until its 1906 series.  No other cities are known during the pre-1903 era, although others did join in during the "tween" period from 1906 to 1909.

As was probably the case in several industrialized states, Pennsylvania passed laws regarding steam boilers and steam engines, largely for the safety of the public.  Since steam-powered automobiles were quite common in the early era, they obviously would have fallen under the requirement, although it doesn't count specifically as automobile registration or licensing.  The first law, passed April 18, 1899, and effective October 1, 1899, required steam engineers in first class cities (large cities such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) to undergo an examination and acquire a license from the city boiler inspector.  A second law, 1905 Act 75, passed on April 4, 1905, extended the same requirement to cities of the second and third class, which probably covered all other cities in the state.  A $3 annual license was required to operate any kind of steam engine over 10 horsepower and licenses were issued in two classes:  Stationary or portable.  The license certificate was to be "framed under glass" and displayed "in some conspicuous place about the engine."

The first state motor vehicle law required both vehicle registration and operator's licenses.  1903 Act 202, passed on April 23, 1903, required owners to register with the prothonotary of any one county, pay a one-time $2 fee, and display an owner-provided rear plate with 3-inch-square numbers.  The prothonotary issued a registration certificate which was to be placed in the vehicle and made available for inspection at any time.  The registration was permanent for as long as the vehicle was owned by the registrant.  Dealers were exempted providing no vehicle was used privately or for hire.  Registration began in May 1903.

An operator's license was also required from any one city or county treasurer upon payment of an annual $3 fee.  The license year was January 1 to December 31.  Cities which already had a license fee in force were exempted from this requirement, which was lucky for Philadelphia residents since their fee was only $2 ($1 for renewals).  Therefore, Philadelphia city plates already in use in 1903 continued until the final city plate issue of 1906.  The law also stated that "no person shall be required to pay a license fee in more than one city or municipality, in any one year."

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had 67 counties in 1903 just as it does today.  Each county began numbering at #1, resulting in massive duplication of numbers across the state and a system that must have been practically unenforceable since the plates bore numbers only and no indication of county.  We have very few sources reporting what numbers were issued by which counties on any given date.  Allegheny County issued #229 on July 28, 1903, and registered 581 vehicles as of September 1, 1904.  Luzerne County issued #83 on May 14, 1904.  Philadelphia County registered 1,056 vehicles as of September 1, 1904.

A 1905 photo shows two plates on the rear of an automobile:  An undated leather plate #1344 (Philadelphia County vehicle registration) and a 1905 dated porcelain plate (Philadelphia city operator's license).  An undated wooden plate #920 is known with a 1905 metal Pittsburgh tab mounted above the letters "PA.", showing that numbers in Allegheny County were nearing #1000.  The highest known pre-state leather plate is #1529 with the letters "PA" vertically, most certainly a late Philadephia County number.

A new state law, 1905 Act 159, corrected this situation, but only partially.  Passed on April 19, 1905, and effective January 1, 1906, this law required all motor vehicle owners (including motorcycles) to obtain an operator's license from the State Highway Department, pay an annual $3 fee, and display a pair of annual state-issued plates.  These are not registration plates;  all 1906-09 Pennsylvania plates are actually driver's licenses!  The license year was January 1 to December 31.  Non-residents were given no grace period;  they were required to obtain a license immediately.

The 1903 act was not repealed, but the 1905 law in Section 4 clearly states that "Not more than one State license number shall be carried" and that any other state plate must be removed.  This clause effectively ended the county registration plates which had been assigned from 1903 to 1905, reverting Pennsylvania to having no state automobile registration at all!

Operator's license plates for 1906 through 1909 had the legend "PENNA 1906" in one line at the top, except for the lowest numbers, #1 - #99, which had the legend in two lines at the right, creating a very rare design variety.  The following table lists the number of licenses issued according to the state, and the highest known plate numbers for each year:

      1906   14,054   #13968

      1907   20,094   #20000

      1908   25,110   #25035

      1909   34,531   #34129

Pennsylvania's dual motor vehicle regulations (registration of vehicles and licensing of operators) were finally united in 1909 with the passage of Act 174.  Passed on April 27, 1909, and effective January 1, 1910, this law provided for both registration of motor vehicles and licensing of chaffeurs under a unified, comprehensive system, specifically repealing the 1903 and 1905 acts.  All motor vehicle owners were to register with the State Highway Department, pay an annual fee, and display a pair of annual state-issued plates.  These registration plates contained a riveted keystone-shaped aluminum tab bearing the vehicle's maker number.  Motorcycles, in lieu of state-issued plates, were required to display an owner-provided number on the rear mud-guard in 3-inch-tall numbers in a contrasting color to that of the machine.

Registration fees were $5, $10 or $15 depending upon horsepower, Motorcycles $2, and Dealers $5 per pair of plates up to a maximum of 5 pairs.  Dealer plates had the word "DEALER" in place of the keystone tab.  The registration year was January 1 to December 31.  Non-residents were allowed 10 days before registering, but only if they were from states that granted similar reciprocity to Pennsylvania.  (Full reciprocity began in 1914.)  As before, no other plates were to be displayed on vehicle, this time including city plates also.  City and county ordinances requiring any license or registration were banned.  In lieu of operator's licenses for all drivers, this law required only chauffeurs and paid operators to procure an annual license for a $2 fee, for which a metal badge was issued with the words "Pennsylvania Licensed Driver".

The following table lists the registration totals for each type of plate for 1910, as well as the highest known plate numbers:

      1910                        PASSENGER   MOTORCYCLE   DEALER

      Registrations issued:         33,346       3,854      2,908

      Highest plate known:          #33198   (owner-made)   #2807

It will be noted that the 1910 passenger total is lower than that of 1909, partly because the issues of 1909 and earlier years included motorcycles.  The other difference is that the number of licensed drivers and motor vehicle owners could never be exactly equated, since some drivers applying for licenses didn't own vehicles, whereas the opposite was highly unlikely, and few owned more than one vehicle.

State-issued motorcycle plates did not begin until 1914, and were provided for in a revised law, 1913 Act 385, passed on July 7, 1913.  1914 motorcycle plates used the letter "O" prefix beginning at #O1 and the highest known plate is #O14359.  There were 14,592 motorcycle registrations in 1914.  For more details on 1910-13 motorcycle pre-state registration, please see the Motorcycle chapter.