The Ezekiel Airship
Pittsburg, Camp County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Baptist minister and inventor Burrell Cannon (1848-1922) led some Pittsburg investors to establish the Ezekiel airship Company and build a craft described in the Biblical book of Ezekiel. The ship had large, fabric-covered wings powered by an engine that turned four sets of paddles. It was built in a nearby machine shop and was briefly airborne at this site late in 1902, a year before the Wright brothers first flew. Enroute to the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, the airship was destroyed by a storm. In 1913 a second model crashed, and the Rev. Cannon gave up the project. (1976)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Baptist minister and inventor Burrell Cannon (1848-1922) drew on a vision from the Biblical book of Ezekiel to design a flying machine, persuading Pittsburg investors to fund the Ezekiel Airship Company. Its engine drove four sets of paddles beneath large fabric-covered wings, and the craft reportedly lifted briefly off the ground late in 1902—a year before the Wright brothers' flight. The airship was wrecked by a storm en route to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and after a second model crashed in 1913, Cannon abandoned the effort.
Why it matters
The Ezekiel Airship belongs to the crowded, hopeful world of pre-Wright inventors racing toward flight, a reminder that the conquest of the air grew out of countless bold local experiments.
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Related people
- · Burrell Cannon
Themes & tags
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