Boeing at Roanoke (Lake Union)

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End of Roanoke Street, Lake Union

On June 15, 1916, William E. Boeing guided the B&W Bluebill, the first plane he helped to build, into the air above Lake Union. "B&W" stood for the initials of Boeing and his partner Navy Lt. Conrad Westervelt. Herb Munter also helped to design and construct the two-seat, single-engine float plane in the Pacific Aero Club's hangar-boathouse in a converted house at the foot of Roanoke Street in Seattle.

Boeing and Eddie Hubbard (1889-1928) delivered the first bag of international U.S. Air Mail in history on March 3, 1919. The men flew a Boeing-built C-700 seaplane for the demonstration trip from Vancouver, B.C., to Lake Union in Seattle. By then Boeing had shifted his production to the "Red Barn" on the Duwamish River.

By Paula Becker, September 25, 2012

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Boeing B&W Bluebill, Roanoke Hanger, Lake Union, Seattle, 1916
Courtesy Boeing Archive