1911 - 1913
On the Barnes farm, south and east of this marker, one of the first military aviation training centers in the U.S. was established in 1911. After successful test flights of the second Wright airplane in 1909, the Wright brothers agreed to the establishment of an Army Aviation School at College Park. Md. The latitude of College Park being unsuitable for winter flying, the War Department chose Augusta for a winter school.Arriving in Augusta November 29, 1911, the College Park School was welcomed by Mayor Thomas Barrett, Jr. in Jan.,Wilbur Wright visited the school which returned to Maryland in April 1912.The school was reopened at the Barnes farm Nov. 19, 1912. Due to strained relations with Mexico, all men and equipment were moved to Texas Feb 28, 1913, to become a part of the Second Division. The two days previous to the departure from Augusta were spent preparing for what would have been the first military use of airplanes by the U.S had military operations deveoped. The evacuation in 1913 marked the end of the Augusta school.Amoung the aviators trained at this school were Col. T.D. Milling, Chief of Staff of Brig. Gen. William (Billy) Mitchell in World War I, and Gen. Harley (Hap) Arnold, Commander of the U.S. Air Forces in World War II.HM Number | HMMJL |
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Series | This marker is part of the Georgia: Georgia Historical Society/Commission series |
Tags | |
Marker Number | 121-44 |
Year Placed | 1967 |
Placed By | Georgia Historical Commssion |
Marker Condition | No reports yet |
Date Added | Sunday, September 7th, 2014 at 8:09pm PDT -07:00 |
UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 17S E 412507 N 3703089 |
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Decimal Degrees | 33.46368333, -81.94153333 |
Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 33° 27.821', W 81° 56.492' |
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 33° 27' 49.26" N, 81° 56' 29.52" W |
Driving Directions | Google Maps |
Area Code(s) | 706 |
Closest Postal Address | At or near 300-398 Oak St, Augusta GA 30901, US |
Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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