Four men are posed in front of a carriage in the Alvin Van Campen Livery Barn located at 17 Second Street SE next to the Chicago Great Western Railroad depot. In March 1888, Van Campen purchased the business from Milo Jack. In December 1911, he sold the livery business and building to C. L. Arnold and W. S. Burton and moved into the Van Campen building. Tom Williams drove the baggage wagon; Ed Durkee, a brother of Mrs. Louis Rommel, drove the ""taxi"". all vehicles were horse drawn. Note the old hack in the back of the barn (City Bus and Transfer). This bus met the trains for the Cook Hotel. The men in the photo are (left to right): Tom Williams, George Fitzgerald, Alfred ""Red"" Ennis and Ed Durkee.
Two men are posed by the front of a Chicago and North Western train engine. A hand operated turntable is visible in the rear. A wooden pilot (cow catcher) is attached to the front of the engine. The man in dark clothes on the right is Joe Bell.
A train is photographed moving toward the Rochester depot of the Chicago & North Western Railroad while a group of people wait outside the depot. Other buildings, train tracks and railcars are also visible.
The layout of pre-flight operations includes the field plan with field house, fence and track shown. Details include load ring, position of men, hydrogen cylinders, TNT caps, poles, balloons and gondola. The plan was drawn by Paul Campbell.
Dr. Jean Piccard is inflating one of the 80 balloons which he planned to use in his ascent. He is assisted by Elden Olson, University of Minnesota aeronautical student. Hundreds of spectators gathered to watch this rehearsal of the ground crew on July 7, 1935 at Soldiers Field, Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Dr. Jean Piccard is installing a radio in the Pleiades prior to his historic balloon flight. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Dr. Jean Piccard is posed by a Lincoln-Zephyr automobile. This photo was later used in an advertisement for Motor Sales & Service Company that appeared in the Rochester Post-Bulletin newspaper on July 19, 1937. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight from Soldiers Field in Rochester, Minnesota was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Professor Jean Piccard is posed by the gondola or basket he would ride in during his historic balloon ascension on July 18, 1935. In the background of this photo taken in Soldiers Field is the Rochester Dairy. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Governor John A. Johnson of Minnesota died in office after surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1909. The train shown on this postcard took the Governor's body from the Rochester depot to the depot that served his hometown of St. Peter, Minnesota.
This train took the body of Governor John A. Johnson of Minnesota from Rochester, Minnesota, back to his hometown of St. Peter, Minnesota. Governor Johnson died in office from complications after surgery at the Mayo Clinic in 1909.
This lithograph of the Rochester map drawn by P.P. Condit, Civil Engineer and Surveyor, shows the platted sections of the city with blocks, lots and streets and some business ads. The businesses listed are: John W, Remine, Attorney at Law; Stevens House, J. Fleck, Proprietor; F. A. Soule, Attorney at Law; Rochester Free Press, F. A. Soule, Editor; American House, C. C. Cole, Proprietor; Eleazer Damon, Watchmaker and Jeweler; G. C. Sherman, Boots and Shoes; Fay and Leonard, Attorneys and Insurance Agents; Reynolds and Woodword, Drugs and Medicines; I. M. Terrill, Ornamental Painter; La Dui and Leet, Merchant Tailors and C. C. Willson, Attorney and Counselor at Law.
A car is driving across the concrete bridge (built in 1918) at Oronoco. Several men appear to be fishing in the river under the bridge. The photo is taken from below the site of the present dam, looking west. The dam gave way in 1924 and there was no lake for the next 13 years. The present dam was built in 1937 by the W.P.A. and federal government funding.
The banks of the Zumbro River are spanned by a bridge at Oronoco. This bridge, built about 1876, was the second bridge at this location and was later replaced by a concrete bridge in 1918.
Assistants are holding individual inflated balloons at Soldiers Field while waiting for the signal to move towards the center and join the balloons into clusters for Dr. Jean Piccard's balloon ascension in the early hours of July 18, 1937.
Inflated balloons are being walked in from the edges of the field toward the gondola to be joined into clusters just prior to Dr. Piccard's take off. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Cluster balloons have been inflated and are attached to the gondola, the Pleiades, just prior to take off from Soldier's Field in Rochester, MN. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Ticket number 1008 admitted one person to Soldiers Field in Rochester, Minnesota to view the preparations and balloon flight of Dr. Jean Piccard. Originally scheduled for sometime in June, the flight was delayed until July 17 - 18, 1937 when optimum weather conditions permitted a safe flight. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Assistants are inflating individual balloons with hydrogen at Soldier's Field in Rochester, MN prior to Dr. Jean's Piccard's experimental balloon ascension. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Dr. Jean Piccard's family is working on the gondola, Pleiades, before his balloon flight from Rochester, Minnesota. Left to right, Professor Jean Piccard, thirteen year old Paul, Dr. Jeannette Picard (his wife), seventeen year old John and eleven year old Donald. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Seventeen year old John Piccard, eldest son of Dr. Jean Piccard, is fastening toggles to the loading ring of his fathers gondola, Pleiades, prior to Dr. Jean Piccard's historic flight. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.