PARIS – Eighty years ago this month, Paris Hill resident and Merchant Marine Captain Harry Lyon helped make aviation history as the navigator on the first flight across the Pacific from California to Australia.

Known for his skill as a ship’s navigator, Lyon was invited by Australian pilots Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm to join the crew of the Southern Cross for this historic flight even though he had never flown in an aircraft before.

Flying day and night over open ocean, through severe storms, using dead reckoning with the aid of compasses when radio contact was impossible, and with stops for rest and refueling in Hawaii and Fiji, the Southern Cross landed in Brisbane, Australia, on June 9, 1928.

Photographs and more details of this trip, the crew and the aircraft are on display at Hamlin Memorial Library and Museum along with many other items and stories of local historic interest.

The library and museum are now open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It will also be open Founders’ Day which will be held Saturday, July 19, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Founders’ Day also features the Classic Car collection, craft and antique fair and entertainment. The Paris Hill Historical Society will also be open that day.