Site of Ben Epps' Garage
Georgia's pioneer aviator, Benjamin Thomas Epps, was born in Oconee County in 1888. He opened Athens' first automobile repair garage at this location on East Washington Street in 1907. That same year, nineteen-year-old Epps designed and built his first airplane here - a monoplane with an upright buggy seat, bicycle wheels, and a 35-foot wingspan powered by a fifteen-horsepower French Anzani engine. Its successful flight earned him recognition as the father of Georgia aviation. Epps tested his aircraft and operated a flying service at what is now Athens-Ben Epps Airport. He died of injuries suffered in a plane crash in 1937 at the age of forty-nine.| HM Number | HM7KY |
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| Series | This marker is part of the Georgia: Georgia Historical Society/Commission series |
| Tags | |
| Marker Number | 29-5 |
| Year Placed | 2007 |
| Placed By | Georgia Historical Society, Athens-Clarke County Government Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Epps Cousins Club |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Monday, September 15th, 2014 at 5:41pm PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 17S E 280364 N 3760142 |
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| Decimal Degrees | 33.95888333, -83.37695000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 33° 57.533', W 83° 22.617' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 33° 57' 31.98" N, 83° 22' 37.02" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 706 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 120 E Washington St, Athens GA 30601, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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