What happened on Shuter's Hill in 1909?
Although Rosemont is located close to National Airport, “aviation” might not be the first word that comes to mind when one thinks of the neighborhood. But Rosemont’s earliest days witnessed at least two aviation milestones. On July 30, 1909, Orville Wright made a demonstration flight for the Army from Fort Myer to Shooter’s Hill (today the site of the George Washington Masonic Memorial) and back, the route of which passed over Rosemont. Based on the success of this flight, the Army accepted it as the world’s first military aircraft. Additionally, an article in the August 11, 1911 edition of the Washington Herald reported that Tony Janus – an aviation pioneer – was expected to make a trial flight of a new monoplane from one of the fields adjacent to Rosemont.
