October 5th, 1911 -- In the fields of the Jarnecke Farm Present day this is in the vicinity, just east of Columbia Avenue and south of 173rd Street -- Jarnecke Avenue. Aviation history was in the making here as early aviation pioneer Cal P. Rodgers set his airplane down, just before 6 p.m. that evening.

This daring pilot was forced to land his flying machine, because of the encroaching darkness. Hammond, Indiana was the twenty-first stop in this incredible journey. His mission was to complete the first transcontinental flight across the United States.

The craft was of Wright design, fabricated from wood and canvas. It was named the "Vin Fiz", after a soda drink of the era. This soon to be historical event was an early advertising ploy, in an effort to make "Vin Fiz a best selling soft drink. The drink never got off the ground, but the plane, the flight and the pilot, are forever remembered in the history books.

After an overnight stay at the Majestic Hotel in Downtown Hammond, Rodgers was set to take off once again on his quest. However dangerously high winds delayed his departure for several days. The pilot also had difficulty in securing a departure field to resume his flight. Rodgers did manage to find a field to take off, in the nearby village of Lansing, Illinois. He took back to the air around 11 a.m. on October 8th, 1911.

For the record - The first transcontinental flight across the country from New York, NY to Long Beach CA was completed by American aviation pioneer Cal P. Rodgers. On September 17, 1911 he first left Sheephead Bay at Brooklyn NY and arrived in California on December 10, 1911, 84 days later. Rodgers actual time in the air was 3 days, 10 hours and 14 minutes. And Hammond, Indiana was part of that historical event.

|| Back to Twentieth Century Time Capsule Main Page ||
Above photo from the archives of the Hammond Historical Society -- Calumet Room of the Hammond Public Library.
Source information from the Hammond Historical Society.
Twentieth Century Time Capsule © 1999 HammondIndiana.com

|| SEARCH || INDEX || MESSAGE BOARD || WEATHER || HISTORY || LINKS || PHOTOS || POSTCARDS || NEWSSTAND ||