Brookville Community Museum

Oct 1, 2019
1 min read

Updated: Oct 14, 2023

Spitler House and Community Museum - Warren Rasor Ballooning Exhibits

The Brookville Community Museum, housed in the restored Samuel Spitler House at 14 Market Street, is a local history museum for the city of Brookville. The museum's exhibits include a display about Brookville native Warren Rasor, in his day one of the top five balloonists in the United States. Rasor was a local builder and craftsman and constructed the house for Samuel Spitler in 1894, originally located at 5 Hay Avenue.In the 1970’s the house had deteriorated and through a funding effort by local citizens was moved to its current location on Market Street where it was restored and opened to the public in 1976 as a museum. It has been placed on the National Register of Historical Places.

The Warren Rasor display includes notebooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, posters, logs recording the details of Rasor's balloon flights and a three-foot square wicker balloon basket, one of three remaining from the total of seven once owned by Rasor. Another of the baskets is on display at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Rasor took up ballooning in 1909 at the age of 50. During his 15 years as a balloonist, Rasor made almost 100 flights, participated in many national balloon races and served as a balloon instructor in World War I. Rasor's son Herbert acted as his father's aide on many of the flights.