George Armitage (1887-1948)

Born in England, he came to Rhode Island as a youngster and attended Providence public schools. He may have been the first person to fly in Rhode Island; it is known that he began experimenting with “power driven gliders” as early as 1905. A 1934 article in Rhode Island Review stated: “To George Armitage we give full credit for the design and building of the first power-driven monoplane in Rhode Island.” He organized and operated a machine tool company for some 35 years, and was quite successful as an inventor.