This is a rotary piston water meter signed “Nat’l Meter Co. N.Y. AA-X Crown Meter.” It has a split case and no serial number. It fit a ⅝” pipe, and was made by the National Meter Company of New York-whether in Manhattan or in Brooklyn remains to be determined. AA-X designates a linear register.
Lewis Hallock Nash, a student at the Stevens Institute of Technology, patented the first rotary-piston water meter and assigned his rights to the National Meter Company in New York City. Joining the firm after graduation, Nash developed a rotary piston meter that was accurate, durable, simple, compact, and inexpensive. National termed it the Crown, introduced it to market in 1882, and was soon boasting that this model was “used and adopted by no less than 400 Cities and Towns in the United States, the Dominion of Canada, and abroad.” National was still manufacturing the Crown some forty years later.
Ref: Lewis H. Nash, “Rotary Water-Meter,” U.S. Patent #211,582 (1879).
National Meter Co., Statistics, Tables and Water Meters (New York, 1887).
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.