Would Slate's all-metal steam-powered airship have worked?

02/14/24 • 10 min

If so, the Linn County lad might have revolutionized air travel. But a launch-day disaster ruined his prototype, the Great Depression scared off all his investors, and the Hindenburg disaster ended the era of airship travel. (Linn and Benton county; 1910s, 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1602c.pt2-slate-metal-airship-inventor-379.html)

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Alsea lad became ‘The Nikola Tesla of Oregon’

Thomas B. Slate first invented the commercial production process for making dry ice, then took his new-made fortune and used it to re-imagine airship travel in an almost unbelievably “steampunk” way. (Alsea, Benton County; 1900s, 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1602b.slate-metal-airship-inventor-part1.378.html)

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Little remains of back-woods luxury spa at Wilhoit Springs

During the heyday of hydropathy, the remote mountainside resort was Clackamas County’s No. 1 tourist draw; its waters actually had scientifically provable therapeutic value. (Molalla, Clackamas County; 1910s, 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1102a-little-remains-of-rural-luxury-spa-at-wilhoit-springs.html)