Patterson: The Birthplace of Champion Planes
This file appears in: Origins of the Wedell-Williams Air Service

This Sanborn Map from 1912 shows several cypress mills in Patterson, but the town would become famous for more than cypress and sugar cane. Racing planes made this town known to pilots such as Jimmy Doolittle and Amelia Earhart.
Image Courtesy of the Wedell-Williams Memorial Foundation and the Louisiana State Museum
This file appears in: Origins of the Wedell-Williams Air Service
Origins of the Wedell-Williams Air Service
In 1928, Harry Williams, lumberman and former mayor of Patterson, LA, met Menefee Airways pilot James (Jimmy) Wedell. Wedell gave Williams flying lessons. The two instantly became friends despite…