Hi William--
I did a lot of research on patents granted in the late 1800s for an exhibit
called 'Spark of Invention.' To my knowledge, there's no website (including
the United States Patent Office website) that includes inventions prior to
1971. The USPTO website does list repositories where you can go through the
original bound records. We happen to have such a repository here at the
University of Texas engineering library. It was fascinating to pour through
these books--both for their content and for the books themselves. I suggest
you locate the repository closest to you and take a field trip. I think that's
your only solution!

Sheila Darr
Austin Children's Museum

William P. Scott wrote:

> Does anyone know of a good website (or other resource) for searching
> U.S. patents by number.  The few sites that I have found date back to 1971
> at the earliest.  I need years between 1920 and 1950.
>
> Thanks,
>
> William Scott
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