Community Corner

Pioneering Hot Air Balloon Mission From Civil War Celebrated This Weekend in Falls Church

Sesquicentennial Weekend to celebrate first reconnaissance mission, educate public for free.

It was 150 years ago Thaddeus Lowe performed the first military reconnaissance in the United States in a hot air balloon in what is now Falls Church.

This weekend, the City of Falls Church will celebrate Lowe’s mission with the Civil War Sesquicentennial Weekend. The weekend, beginning Friday at 7:30 p.m., will culminate with a picnic on Sunday.

“We try to do as many things for free that we can,” said Barb Cram, organizer of the event. “We want people to know the history.”

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will be shown Friday night at the City of Falls Church Community Center. The free showing, which will start at 7:30 p.m., details the efforts by Civil War aeronaut and inventor Thaddeus Lowe. A Q & A session will follow the film, Cram said.

in Cherry Hill Park. Cram said the balloon will be inflated and visitors can pose with it. She said there will be several Civil War artifacts on display as well on Saturday.

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“The cool thing is we have a bunch of artifacts from the Civil War that were found at the Cherry Hill Farmhouse,” Cram said.

The weekend will end with the . From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., free drinks and music will be served up at the park. Cram said people can bring their picnic baskets and enjoy costumed re-enactors.

“It gets the children involved in what historical events happened here,” Cram said. “It’s not all about the battles.”


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