U.S. Army Balloon School

U.S. Army Balloon School. Ross Field. , Historic U.S. Army Balloon School at Ross Field was built on 184 acres donated by Anita Baldwin on land she inherited from her father, Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin. It was named in honor of Lt. Cleo J. Ross who was the only soldier in the Balloon Corps to die due to aerial activity. Although short-lived, the balloon school became the premiere training grounds for the Balloon Signal Corps. Colonel W. N. Hensley, Jr. and three lieutenants arrived in Arcadia in March of 1918 to prepare for the building of the balloon school. Authorization came two months later and by June the actual construction had begun. During the construction phase stables that had once housed Lucky Baldwin's racehorses were used as Barracks. Deflated balloons were stored under the grandstands of Baldwin's racetrack. Construction was completed in September that same year. , , The on-site plant to generate hydrogen was operating by July, producing enough hydrogen for six balloons for the more that 100 cadets enrolled at the post. The students were trucked up to the top of Mount Wilson for observation training because the view of the valley was similar to the view from a balloon. The 95 foot grey balloons, built by B.F. Goodrich, filled with 37,000 cubic feet of hydrogen were often referred to as 'elephants' and 'gasbags.' The school trained 60-man ground-crews responsible for getting the balloons up and down, and two-man observation crews who were trained to observe ground-fire and look for aircraft. , , The school was closed in 1919 with the end of World War I. It saw limited post-world war one use as a small civilian airfield and was where famed aviatrix Pancho Barnes learned to fly. In 1930 one of the old blimp barns was used for a Zeppelin sequence in Howard Hughes' famous movie "Hells Angels." The old field was also used in the 1931 motion picture "Dirigible." The land is now used for various commercial purposes including the Methodist Hospital, and the largest area is now Santa Anita Golf Course. The only remaining parts of Ross Field U.S. Army Balloon School are the Base Operations Center (BOC), which is now the Arcadia Elks Lodge No. 2025, and a stone wall next to the BOC which was a part of the old camp swimming pool.