The Charming Small Town In Ohio That Was Home To Neil Armstrong Once Upon A Time
By Sarah McCosham|Published August 19, 2022
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Sarah McCosham
Author
I write like it's my job - because it is! I have a Master's in English and love words: crossword puzzles, Scrabble games, Wordle, and, of course, good, old-fashioned books.
I'm a writer and editor at OnlyInYourState, and a contributing writer at Cincinnati Magazine. I love the Great Outdoors and am endlessly awestruck by this beautiful country of ours. Coffee keeps me going, yoga keeps me sane, my kids keep me grounded, and my writing keeps me inspired.
Ohio’s ties to aerospace and aviation are a big point of pride for the Buckeye State. Not only was Ohio home to the Wright Brothers, but it also birthed Neil Armstrong, the first person to step foot on the Moon. An American hero, Neil Armstrong was born in a charming small town called Wapakoneta; and today, visitors can learn all about this legendary astronaut in this proud Ohio town.
On August 5, 1930, in a small, ordinary town in Ohio, a boy was born. His name? Neil Alden Armstrong.
Today, Wapakoneta is home to around 10,000, but in 1930? It was home to about half that many people, and, while charming in a small-town kind of way, there really wasn't anything too extraordinary about this Ohio locale.
Armstrong was born at 601 West Benton Street in Wapakoneta, Ohio, to Stephen and Viola Louise. His father was an auditor for the Ohio state government, and the family moved around the state repeatedly, living in 16 towns over the next 14 years.
But what remained constant through this time, though, was Armstrong's interest in aviation and dreams of one day flying. When he was five or six, he experienced his first airplane flight in Warren, Ohio, when he and his father took a ride in a Ford Trimotor.
The family's last move was in 1944 and took them back to Wapakoneta, where Armstrong attended Blume High School and took flying lessons at the Wapakoneta airfield.
From there, Armstrong went on to study at Purdue University and then entered the U.S. Navy as an aviator, eventually setting his sights on experimental research, test piloting, and space travel.
Today, the town of Wapakoneta celebrates its beloved son, with the eponymous Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum its centerpiece. Folks can also stroll past Armstrong's boyhood home and Blume High School, the latter of which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
