National Register Listing

Raycraft Ranch

N of Carson City, on U. S. 395, Carson City (Independent City), NV

The first airplane flight in the state of Nevada took place on June 23, 1910, at the Raycraft Ranch near Carson City. The flight is of national historical significance because all previous flights throughout the country had been made at or near sea-level and it was thought that powered flight at such an altitude, 4,675 feet, was impossible.
Ivy Baldwin, a nationally-known parachutist and balloonist, made the flight in a 48-horsepower Curtis-Paulam biplane. The flight also involved experimentation with the proper strength fuel, again because of the altitude.
Arrangements for the flight had been made by Carson City's Carnival Committee early in June for the City's Sagebrush Carnival scheduled for July 3, 4, 5, 1910. The Committee preferred such a flight rather than the carnival sideshows usually featured at such celebrations.

Baldwin, three mechanics and the airplane arrived by rail on June 17, and within a few days the machine had been put together. High winds delayed the first trial flight until June 23, but the tryout was a success, Baldwin attaining an altitude of 30' and a distance of one quarter mile before a faulty steering mechanism brought him down. Repairs were made and he made a second flight in the early evening, reaching an altitude of 50' and covering one-half mile before returning to the starting point.

The success of Baldwin's flight encouraged other Nevada communities to engage flyers and aerial barnstormers for their own celebrations in later years and did much to further interest in flying, both from a recreational and a commercial point of view.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.