1859 Balloon Voyage
A Planned Exhibit at Conner Prairie
Experience the Exhibit
Enter the outdoor experience and be transported back in time to a recreated 1859 Lafayette environment on the day John Wise launched his balloon. Complete with storefronts and streetlamps of the time, guests will feel the excitement of America’s fascination with balloon flight in the years just before the Civil War.
Guests will explore, through fun interactive installations, the science and technology behind the development of the balloon as “flying machine” and the history of ballooning in America. The exhibit culminates with the opportunity to fly to the height of 350 feet in a tethered, gas-filled balloon that will recreate the sense of flying experienced by John Wise in 1859.
From an eagle’s vantage point, guests will survey how Hamilton County’s landscape has changed from the time that Native Americans inhabited the land by the White River when William Conner first settled here. On a clear day, they will see the skyscrapers of Indianapolis.
With this exhibit, Conner Prairie continues on an educational path that began in 2000 with in-depth research of how visitors learn in museums. Irish poet William Butler Yeats once wrote that “Education is lighting a fire, not filling a bucket.” This planned experience will fulfill Conner Prairie’s mission of stimulating curiosity and interest in Indiana’s past in ways that are educational and exciting.