From a Person with a Broom to the Latest Tech

Some things go out of style, but cleanliness never does; it just gets achieved in different ways. A fine example is the role of the parking lot sweeper. At one time, it was a person with a broom doing their best to gather dirt and debris from a lot. It was time-consuming and not entirely effective.

But technology marches on, and the lone soul sweeping dirt and picking up trash was soon replaced by a mechanical sweeper. That change happened way back in 1849 when C.S. Bishop invented the first model. This unit had horsepower but no engine as it was a horse-drawn cart with a sweeper operated by gears, chains, and belts.

That simple machine kicked off a boom in the industry, and before 1900, there were over 300 street sweeper patents issued in the U.S. The first motorized sweeper came along in 1913 in the form of The Eglin Sweeper. Then, once the floodgates of technological advances were opened, progress was steady up to the present day.

Now when you see a parking lot sweeper in Washington, operated by a company such as Springtime Enterprises LLC, it's likely the latest in sweeper and vacuum equipment disposing of debris and litter from a lot. These companies often use backpack blowers for detail areas like sidewalks and curbs where the sweeper trucks can’t reach.