The earliest working type of escalator was patented in 1892 by Jesse W. Reno. It was first introduced to the public in 1896 as a novelty ride at Coney Island, a theme park in New York. Within that same decade, George H. Wheeler patented a moving stairway that had a moving handrail with flat steps that had to be boarded and exited from the side. Charles D. Seeberger bought Wheeler’s patent in 1898 and went on to work at the Otis Elevator Company, succesfully developing the first step-type moving stairway. The world's first ever commercial escalator was developed by Seeberger and the Otis Elevator Company. It won first prize at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. In 1911, Otis took over Reno's company and became the sole manufacturer of escalators.  

Since then, escalators have gained wide-spread use throughout the world.  The most common use of escalators is to move large numbers of people across relatively short distances. They are found in many places, such as modern train stations, airports, shopping centers, department stores , large hotels and many more.