Phillip Bell Downing was born on March 22, 1857, in Providence, Rhode Island. He was one of six children born to George T. Downing and Serena L. deGrasse. His father was a successful businessman and well-known abolitionist who also ran the dining room for the US House of Representatives for several years after the Civil War ended.

His grandfather, Thomas Downing established Downing’s Oyster House in the financial district of Manhattan in 1825. It became one of the most popular and successful oyster houses in New York with white bankers, politicians, stockbrokers, lawyers, businessmen, and socialites flocking to eat dishes from its menu.

In June of 1890, the U.S. Patent Office approved Downing’s application for a street railway switch. Prior to his invention, whenever a train or streetcar needed to move from one track to another, the switch had to be done physically by a man or men on the track. His invention allowed the switch to be opened or closed by using a brass arm located next to the brake handle on the platform of the car. This early invention became a prototype for the light switch.

One year later he received a patent for his street letter box, similar to the blue metal mailboxes we are familiar with today.

Before this mailing a letter required traveling to a post office. But Downing’s letter box allowed “for drop off near one’s home and easy pick-up by a letter carrier. His idea for the hinged opening prevented rain or snow from entering the box and damaging the mail.”¹