On July 16, 1935, a curious little machine made its debut on a street corner in downtown Oklahoma City. Perched at the southeast corner of what was then First Street and Robinson Avenue, Park-O-Meter No. 1 changed the way we think about city parking—and urban life—forever.
The parking meter was the brainchild of Carl C. Magee, a newspaperman who had relocated to Oklahoma City from New Mexico in 1927. As editor of the Oklahoma News and a member of the city’s Chamber of Commerce traffic committee, Magee was no stranger to downtown frustrations. By the early 1930s, local merchants were fed up with stagnant parking. Shoppers couldn’t find spots because the same cars hogged prime spaces all day.
Magee’s solution? A coin-operated timer that encouraged turnover by putting a price on parking. He sketched out a rudimentary design and filed for a patent in December 1932. Then, he sponsored a contest at Oklahoma State University to bring his concept to life. Two engineering professors rose to the challenge, delivering the first functional parking meter in 1935.
It cost a nickel an hour to park. Meters were installed at 20-foot intervals along painted curb spaces. The idea of paying for public space didn’t sit well with everyone—some critics called it un-American—but retailers embraced it. More parking availability meant more potential customers. And drivers? They had no choice but to adapt.
After the successful rollout in Oklahoma City, parking meters began popping up across the nation. By the early 1940s, over 140,000 had been installed in U.S. cities. By 1944, municipal governments were raking in $10 million a year in parking revenue. Despite the resistance, parking meters are now a fixture in modern cities. Today, it’s estimated there are between 4 and 5 million meters across the United States.