Side A: In March 1917, a month before U.S. entry into World War I, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company began construction of the hangar on land the firm purchased here in 1916. During World Wars I and II, the hangar was used for building and testing lighter-than-air craft for military uses, including intelligence-gathering and antisubmarine warfare. The first class of Navy airship pilots also trained at Wingfoot Lake. (Continued on other side)
Side B: (Continued from other side) In 1925, the company expanded into commercial aircraft with the production of the Pilgrim, the first of the iconic Goodyear blimps. In 1960, after 43 years of building military airships, Goodyear delivered its last blimp to the Navy. Known as the “Kitty Hawk of Lighter-Than-Air,” Wingfoot Lake, the oldest airship base in the country, remains active in the building and operation of Goodyear’s 21st-century fleet of airships. Goodyear blimps have provided aerial TV coverage of sports and entertainment events from coast to coast since the Rose Bowl parade in 1955.
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