Feud Ends Over Proposed Park In Glenn Curtiss' Hometown | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.14.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.15.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.16.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.17.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Tue, Jan 08, 2008

Feud Ends Over Proposed Park In Glenn Curtiss' Hometown

Lakefront Site Witnessed Several Test Flights

A longstanding feud over an eight-acre parcel of land in Hammondsport, NY has come to an end, after two anonymous benefactors kicked in $900,000 to purchase the site where aviation legend Glenn Curtiss tested his earliest aircraft designs.

The Associated Press reports the lakefront property will need to be cleaned up a bit, to make it a park honoring Curtiss. The site now consists of an abandoned railroad property, and numerous overgrown shrubs and trees. One hundred years ago, however, it was largely open... which made it the optimum place for Curtiss to fly his creations.

The aviator flew his "June Bug" biplane for one minute, 42.5 seconds in Hammondsport in July 1908, the first officially recognized flight over one kilometer in length. Later, Curtiss tested the world's first seaplane there.

Plans to revitalize the land have come and gone over the past decade. In 2004, a bond referendum authorizing $1.3 million to create an 11-acre Glenn Curtiss Memorial Park was voted down, and things looked bleak.

A compromise was ironed out late last year, however. A California charity delivered a $500,000 check to real estate developer Michael Doyle, with another $400,000 offered by a local resident. With cash in hand, Doyle lowered his $1.1 million asking price.

"I consider this a miraculous 12th-hour turnabout," said part-time Hammondsport resident Geoffrey Grimsman, who kicked off the 2004 effort to acquire the land for a park named after Curtiss.

FMI: www.earlyaviators.com/ecurti05.htm

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.15.25): Charted Visual Flight Procedure Approach

Charted Visual Flight Procedure Approach An approach conducted while operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan which authorizes the pilot of an aircraft to proceed >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (07.15.25)

“When l became the Secretary of Defense, I committed to rebuild our military to match threats to capabilities. Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.15.25)

Aero Linx: Stearman Restorers Association Welcome to the Stearman Restorers Association. The Stearman Restorers Association is an independent “Not for Profit” 501C-3 Co>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Kjelsrud Gary Kitfox

Airplane Exhibited A Partial Loss Of Engine Power When It Was About Halfway Down The Runway Analysis: The pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane was departing from his pr>[...]

NTSB Prelim: Cessna A150L

The Flight Path Was Consistent With Low-Altitude Maneuvering On June 18, 2025, about 0922 mountain standard time, a Cessna A150L airplane, N6436F, was substantially damaged when it>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC