Balloon house

As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, the Signal Corps made a quick transition through several generations of aviation technology. It took on the task, for instance, of experimenting with balloons for observation and reconnaissance, often with, first, telegraph and then telephone lines running down to the ground. During the fighting in Cuba, however, troops found that the big, anchored balloons were easy targets for the other side. There were also ongoing problems getting funding and equipment to generate the gas used to inflate the balloons.

Pictured here is the balloon house at Fort Myer, Va., in about 1910.