15213. (glass negative) U.S. Life-Saving Station, San Francisco, Aviator Robert Grant Fowler – Cole Flyer Airplane c.1911. Original Large Format 5″ x 7″ Antique Glass Plate Negative shows marvelous detail of the “Cole Flyer” airplane taken outside the U.S. Life Saving Station located at the western end of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Numerous spectators seen gathered around this historic plane. “Robert Grant Fowler (August 10, 1884 – June 15, 1966) was an early aviation pioneer and was the first person to make a west-to-east transcontinental flight in stages. He left San Francisco, California on September 11, 1911 in an attempt to win the Hearst prize in a Wright biplane equipped with a Cole Motor Car Company engine. After his first day he crashed in Alta, California. His cross-country flight was finally completed February 8, 1912, in Jacksonville, Florida. The Golden Gate Park Life-Saving Station seen in the image was a one-of-a-kind station with buildings designed by architects J. Lake Parkinson and John G. Pelton. The Cole Flyer aircraft is shown in front of the lifeboat-house/stable in the center of the station. The three-story house/kitchen building would be to the left, and seen at the right in the image is the main station surfboat building. The tower in the center is the water tower for the station. This glass negative derives from the Wyland Stanley Collection of San Francisco historical memorabilia which included thousands of original photographs and antique negatives. The entire collection was purchased by Marilyn Blaisdell in the late 1970s. Image is clear and close and will make wonderful prints. (VG+). $195.