On this day, July 16, in 1931, the Park-O-Meter was installed at the intersection of First Street and Robinson Avenue in Oklahoma City.

Drivers naturally resented the idea of having to pay to park on public streets, equating it to an unlawful tax. Store owners supported the idea, however, and the parking meter idea took off. Within five years, more than 100,000 sprang up in the major U.S. cities.
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