30 August 1859

First Balloon Ascension Daguerreotupe

This daguerreotype shows the first hot air balloon ascension in Fort Wayne on 30 August 1859. The site for this first "airport," at Barr and Main Streets was not ideal for the launch, but it was the site of a large gas main that would inflate the balloon with its needed 18,000 cubic feet of gas. When inflated, it was 80 feet high from the car to the top of the balloon-described at the time as "made of fine linen and coated with varnish and of spheriodal shape and covered with a net of small cords, which are formed at the bottom of the Balloon in a long neck to which is fastened the basket or car…." Large crowds assembled to witness the balloon ascension of Professor W. D. Bannister, and can be seen milling about on nearby roofs to get a better look at the historic event. At 10:30 in the morning Banister ascended and traveled southeast about 80 miles before descending into a marsh in Ohio.