By Mike Simmons

It is known as Patrol Wagon, Paddy Wagon, Pie Wagon, Selden Wagon, Electric Wagon, Quincy Wagon, Transport Vans and a few others. But all of them are used to carry arrestees or prisoners.

Horse-drawn carriages have been around since the chariots in 1900 BC. They were soon expanded to include four wheels. Ancient Roman names were the essedum and cisium.

In the mid-1800s, American-style wagons more closely resembled those of today. At about the same time, lawmen began using closed, horse-drawn wagons to transport arrestees or prisoners. At the same time, marshals and chiefs used open carriages. These wagons were used not only to transport prisoners, but also police officers, medical patients, dead people, and meat for sale.

Soon after gasoline-powered engines became popular, gasoline-powered wagons were developed to transport inmates. These were especially useful when most of the officers in a town patrolled on foot or horseback, and inmate transportation was needed.

Over time, larger vehicles were outfitted to transport inmates, often to state prisons or to and from court. Large, UPS-type trucks were often used. The court vehicles’ use was lessened when video court became popular. For long, over-the-road transports, huge Greyhound-type buses operated by private prisoner transport companies are often used.

What were they called? Mostly they were known as “Patrol Wagons,” but they also had other names associated with them.

Paddy Wagon – The name “Paddy Wagon” is actually a derogatory and racist term. The term “Paddy” is an insulting nickname for an Irishman. In the 1800s, 1/4 – 1/3 of the residents of New York City were of Irish descent, and ½ of the police officers were Irish. The horse-drawn police wagons were soon known as “Paddy Wagons.”

Pie Wagon – The early horse-drawn police wagons were known as “Pie Wagons” due to their resemblance to the lightweight delivery wagons in America that often delivered pies.

Selden Wagon – The first ever gasoline-powered road wagons built by George Selden were known as “Selden Wagons,” a name that became associated with many types of gasoline-powered police wagons.

Electric Wagon – The first police car in the world was electrically powered. The Akron Police Department introduced it in 1899. It could transport police officers, prisoners, or medical patients.

But the most interesting nickname given to the horse-drawn police wagons was that of “Black Maria.” Most of the wagons at that time were painted black. A story states that Maria Lee was a large and fearsome African-American madam of a sailor’s boarding house in Philadelphia. When the police had difficulty with prisoners, they would call on Black Maria to help load them into the wagon. The wagons soon began to be called “Black Marias” and the name stuck.

Interesting…