Balloon house, gas tank, and generating plant, Fort Omaha
Description
Black and white photograph (18 x 24 cm.) mounted on board backing (27 x 34.5 cm) entitled at the bottom of the image: Balloon House, Gas Tank, and Generating Plant, Fort Omaha. Fort Omaha is located north of Fort Street and west of 30th Street in Omaha, Nebraska. The image shows on the left a hanger building with scaffolding and men in uniforms in front, a balloon overhead in the air with a basket underneath, a round tank in the center with a banner that says, Signal Corps and a building to the right.
This image looks at a large steel hanger built at Fort Omaha in 1907 for use in experiments with dirigibles, a program that was abandoned in 1909. The balloon house was built in 1908 and the first balloon flight was in April, 1909. Shortly after the United States entered World War I, 800 men enlisted in the Signal Corps and were sent to Fort Omaha to the Balloon School. After training, the men ascended in Army balloons to provide forward observations for the artillery, and thus won the title, Eyes of the Army. Source: Collins, William Frederick. History of Fort Omaha. Omaha: M. F. Shafer & Co., 1919 and Herbert, Craig S., Past National Commander, Feature Editor of Haul, Down and Ease Off. National Association of American Balloon Corps Veterans. A Balloon's Eye View of World War One. Undated paper.
