Early Aviation History in Vancouver
Pearson Field
Even before the advent of a U.S. Army Air Service field at Vancouver Barracks in 1921 and the eventual dedication of “Pearson Field” in 1925, aviation had early hallmarks at Vancouver Barracks.
As part of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon, eighteen-year-old Lincolnd Beachey piloted 23 controlled flights in an airship named the City of Portland.
The flight on September 19, 1905 landed on the parade ground of Vancouver Barracks, where Beachey delivered a letter from the President of the Lewis and Clark Exposition to General Constant Williams, commander of Vancouver Barracks. This was the first powered, controlled flight over the Columbia River, and in the state of Washington.
Marker is on E. 5th Street, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
