Kleiner’s Korner: A U.S. Army Signal Corps (Mineola) Scrapbook
The U.S. Army Signal Corps established a base in Mineola in 1916. First Lt. P.R. Stockton (1880-1962) was stationed there as a member of the First Aero Squad and recorded his time in photographs in a scrapbook he compiled throughout his military service. The scrapbook is in the archives of the National Air and Space Museum and available on the website of the Smithsonian Institute.
Art Kleiner
The Scrapbook of 1st Lt. Paul R. Stockton
The scrapbook contains approx. 160 pages and roughly 500 documents and photographs depicting Stockton's service before, during and after WWI.
Stockton's stripes sewn into the inside cover.
Mineola
In 1916 Stockton was assigned to the First Aero Company, NY State National Guard and made his first flight that year in Mineola.
Many pages of the scrapbook (including at Mineola) were devoted to aerial photography.
Note the inscription reading "These and the following photographs were the first ever taken from an airplane."
This photo is the same as the one in Mystery Photo #99 of Dec. 23, 2014. The location of a Motor Parkway sign was the mystery.
Original photo.
The mystery Motor Parkway sign.
Notice the plane in the middle of the photo and the base below.
Service in Europe
In December of 1917, Stockton was off to Europe where he served in various offensives in France. Information provided by earlyaviators.com
Granted leave.
Returning Home
After serving as Commanding Officer of the 12th Aero Squadron of the American Expeditionary Forces during WWI, Stockton returned home and was honorably discharged in 1919. It appears he settled in Los Angeles and stayed there until his death in 1962.
Anyone interested in early military aviation would find the scrapbook a great find. There are photos of training exercises, wrecks and aerial photos of Stockton's service in Europe. Here is the link to the scrapbook which also can also be downloaded as a pdf (too large to attach here).
Comments
Nice find, Art. The Old Country Rd Hwy Bridge was also captured in the scrapbook photo, top and center.
What a great post. Thank you Art.
Thanks guys! Glad you liked it.
I liked the Zeppelin hangar! Huge.