High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Stearns Steam Carriage Company (1901–1904) was a manufacturer of steam automobiles in Syracuse, New York, founded by Edward C. Stearns, an industrialist. Stearns built his first automobile in 1899, an electric which sold so few models through 1900 that the firm changed to steam power in 1901 when the company was incorporated. The company was also known as the Stearns Automobile Company.