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

Mary Wadland June 10, 2019

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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)

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Mary Wadland

Mary Wadland is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Zebra Press, the award-winning Alexandria news publication she founded in 2010 with a mission of celebrating community, culture, and all the good news happening across the city. A longtime community advocate and storyteller, Mary was selected for the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce inaugural 40 Under 40 class and has served as President of Living Legends of Alexandria since 2022. Known for her deep local roots, sharp editorial instincts, and passion for connecting people through journalism, she has spent decades chronicling the personalities, businesses, events, and civic life that make Alexandria unique. Originally from Delray Beach, Florida, Mary is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia, and has been part of Alexandria’s publishing and media community since 1987.