People were fascinated with the development of flight and according to a newspaper, "large crowds of onlookers throng the bluffs overlooking the airport." On June 24, 1929, they gathered near the park to gaze at a plane. Unfortunately, it was a Northwest Airlines passenger/air mail plane that had lost power and crashed near the intersection of Mounds Boulevard and River Street (today's Wilshire Street). The veteran pilot, Edwin H. Middagh died in the initial impact and the plane caught fire, but all of the seven passengers escaped.

Photographer: Paul F. Wright, Northwestern Photographic Studio, Inc.

Date: June 24, 1929

Image courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society