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The hot air balloon was invented in France in
1783. The first American flight, tethered, occurred in Baltimore in
1784. By the late 1800s, balloons were used for geographic surveying, and for military
applications such as aerial observation and evacuation of troops. In the 1900s, balloons were used for barraging (entangling aircraft), weather
observation, and atmospheric research.
Boston is a center of invention and innovation. The photograph
above was taken in 1860 by James W. Black from the balloon, Queen of the
Air, owned by Samuel Archer King. This image is the first successful aerial
photograph taken from a balloon in the United States (Black had
attempted to photograph Providence Rhode Island before
this). The original photo is probably part of the
Boston Public Library
collection.
This 1860 view is looking east from a tethered balloon on Boston Common. Washington Street is in the foreground, with the Old South Meeting House on
the left. Please note that most of the buildings in the center were destroyed
by the Great Boston Fire of 1872.
Of historical interest are early references of balloon aviation in Boston. The following is quoted from the 1838 Boston Almanac:
On July 4th 1837, everything went off
well, the wind was northwest, and the day was one of the finest of the
season. Every one seemed to participate in the festivities of the
occasion. In the afternoon [Louis] Lauriat ascended from East Boston in
his balloon. He passed over Duxbury, and landed safely on the flats
beyond that town, in about an hour after he left the amphitheater. His
greatest height was 17,000 feet. The evening was mild, with
scarcely a cloud above the horizon. Crowds of people soon filled the
Common, where they witnessed fireworks that surpassed any thing of the kind
ever seen in Boston.
On July 26th 1837, Lauriat made another ascension from East Boston. He descended on Point Shirley [nearby in Winthrop, heading out to sea]. He did not reach a very great height.
Balloon Greeting Card, 1909
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