☞ REMEMBER: The Baldwin Airship

In 1909, the nation's aviation science was just at its start, and the New York World newspaper offered $10,000 to anyone who could fly from New York City to Albany. In September of that year, an ambitious aviator by the name of Captain Thomas Scott Baldwin attempted the flight by launching his dirigible balloon with a gondola made of bamboo from West Harlem's Grant's Tomb and headed over the Hudson towards upstate New York. After much fanfare and the motto of "Albany or Bust," an anti-climactic engine problem ended the whole thing in the river. No major injuries were reported, except for the minor bruised ego. Grant's Tomb is on 122nd Street at Riverside Drive and can be reach by the 1 train to 125th or 116th Street. Photos by earlyaviators.com.