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Creating the Benoist at the St. Pete Pier: In commemoration of the world's 1st scheduled flight

St. Petersburg Mayor Abram Pheil paid $400 at a charity auction for the first scheduled commercial flight back in 1914.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In 1914, the city of St. Petersburg became the birthplace of the world’s first scheduled airline route: Pilot Tony Jannus flew the mayor of St. Petersburg to Tampa. 

Now, a local artist is commemorating that historic flight with an exhibit at the St. Pete Pier. Photojournalist Bert Moreno has been documenting the creation of this fascinating project for the past 10 months.

The airline had two daily, scheduled roundtrips across the bay. At the time, a one-way ticket cost just $5.

By the way, Mayor Abram Pheil paid $400 at a charity auction for that first flight -- that’s just over $10,000 in today’s money.

Watch the video in this story for more on this exhibit.

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