Oldest airship Base!

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's Wingfoot Lake Airship Base, sometimes called "The Kitty Hawk of Lighter-Than-Air," is the oldest airship base in the United States.Goodyear entered the fledgling aviation industry when it established its Aeronautics Department in 1910 to market rubber impregnated fabrics and coatings for airplanes and lighter-than-air craft. Goodyear built its first balloon in 1912 and the next year began a long history of building and flying balloons in national and international competition.In 1916, Goodyear bought 720 acres of land southeast of Akron to serve as a flying field and manufacturing site. It included Fritch's Lake which provided water power for a grist mill and a water reserve for factories several miles downstream. Situated on the property was one of the original homes in Portage County, a log cabin built in 1845 by Abraham Himebaugh. The facility and the lake itself took on a new identity from Goodyear's winged foot corporate emblem.