Backyard History

Alexandria History: Air Ship Flies from Alexandria to Washington Monument and Back

ALEXANDRIA, VA – On the morning of June 14, 1906, 18 year-old aviator Lincoln J. Beachey, nicknamed “The Man Who Owns the Sky,” ascended from Luna Park at the north end of the city and sailed over Alexandria in an airship built by Ray Knabenshue.   Similar to the airship seen here, flown by Knabenshue a year earlier at the St. Louis World’s Fair, the airship flight startled Senators and Congressmen at the U.S. Capitol, who left committee meetings and crowded balconies and terraces to get a view of the aerial flight over Washington.  After completing two complete trips around the Washington Monument, at a height of about 400 feet, Beachey returned the airship to Alexandria, completing the one-hour flight. (Source: Office of Historic Alexandria)

Mary Wadland

Mary Wadland is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Zebra Press, founded by her in 2010. Originally from Delray Beach, Florida, Mary is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hollins College in Roanoke, VA and has lived and worked in the Alexandria publishing community since 1987.

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