Jesse Wilford Reno
Jesse Wilford Reno (4 August 1861 – 2 June 1947) was an American inventor and engineer. He invented the first working escalator, called the "inclined elevator", in 1891. An earlier escalator, termed "revolving stairs" by its inventor Nathan Ames, was patented in 1859, but was never built.[1]
He established the Reno Inclined Elevator Co.
See here[2] and here[3] for fascinating accounts of Reno's elevators, and of the spiral escalator which was installed at London's Holloway Road underground station (but never used). The spiral elevator was patented by William Henry Aston and constructed by Reno Electric Stairways and Conveyors Ltd, of which Aston was a Director.