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B-36 PEACEMAKER MUSEUMA 501(c)(3) Non-profit Corporation |
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B-36 PEACEMAKER MUSEUMA 501(c)(3) Non-profit Corporation |
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U.S. Navy photo
Airship ZR-1 "SHENANDOAH" departing Fort Worth's mooring mast 9 October 1924.
During W.W.I Fort Worth became the world's only source of helium when the Army, Navy and the U.S. Bureau of Mines built a helium extraction plant near what is now Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. The giant airships would routinely moor near the helium plant to refill their gas bags and to take on supplies of gasoline, water and "grub" for the crews. The production of helium in Fort Worth, and the servicing of the great airships of the 1920s, was on par with the Manhattan Project of the 1940s for national strategic importance and money spent locally on the effort.
1922 Navy photo from inside the helium plant
Obtaining helium for airships was considered a strategic necessity by the military during WW I and the plant at Fort Worth was the only place in the entire world that could produce the noble gas. In addition to the national defense role this plant played, it also brought to an end many years of gas shortages in North Texas.
Please re-visit this page as we add complete details of this era of Fort Worth's amazing aviation history.
