On January 17, 1871, Andrew Hallidie received U.S. Patent No. 110971 on an Endless Wire Ropeway that formed the basis for the San Francisco cable care system:

Cable car service began in San Francisco on August 1, 1873, running a distance of 2,800 feet and rising 307 feet. Hallidie’s was not the first U.S. patent on a cable car, that honor goes to  Eleazer A. Gardner who received U.S. Patent No. 19,736, on March 23, 1858. Although second in time, Hallidie’s cable car was a financial success, and his patents, which were enforced on cable car promoters around the world and made him wealthy.