History

History of the Thurston's and the start of the Thurston Classic

The Thurston Classic Hot Air Event

Ballooning has a very long history in Meadville. The Thurston's were a Meadville family who were involved in ballooning in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Samuel Sylvester Thurston was born in 1834, and operated a hotel in Meadville. In 1860, Samuel learned how to fly from noted balloonist Professor Steiner, and purchased a balloon. Townspeople were skeptical, but over the next 25 years, Samuel made 215 ascensions in his balloon. He enjoyed sharing his unusual sport with others, flying without charge at fairs, exhibitions and 4th of July celebrations.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Alic Thurston began ballooning in around 1889. His first public ascension in 1891 abruptly ended when his balloon got caught on the wiring of the newly-installed street lights of Meadville and never took off.

Alic later built a number of balloons, including one that he christened the "Meadville". The Meadville was constructed of 576 yards of muslin, and stood 64 feet high. It had a volume of 35,000 ft3, only half the size of a modern sport hot-air balloon, but comparable to the gas balloons still flown today in competition.

Alic had a variety of adventures during his career as a balloonist. His grappling hook, a crude landing device employed by early balloonists, ripped a chicken coop from its foundation, as his father Samuel's had earlier torn the roof off a farmer's kitchen. On one occasion he flew his balloon 180 miles to a landing in the forest near Emporium, Pennsylvania, and had to return home by train. Another time he was becalmed at night over a lake. On at least one occasion he launched his balloon from the roof of the Market House in downtown Meadville.

Both Samuel and Alic Thurston used the title of "Professor", a title conferred by early aeronauts on themselves to convince the public that ballooning was a scientific and learner pursuit. Their ascensions attracted thousands of spectators and were followed closely in the newspapers of the time, the notion of people flying through the air being still very newsworthy in those days.

In 1988 a group of volunteers decided to commemorate the daring feats of the Thurstons during the Meadville Bicentennial celebration. This year will be the 22^nd anniversary of the event.

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