Beautiful certificate from the Vandenberg Inn & Hotel, INC. This historic document was printed by the Goes Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company's name. This item has the printed signatures of the Company's President, and Secretary, and is over 50 years old. This also include letters, financial statement, brochure and other investment material.
Certificate Vignette
Hotel Brochure The Vandenberg Inn & Hotel, Inc. was built to caplialize on the Vandenberg Space Center in hopes of becoming a tourist attraction like Cape Canavarel in Florida. The Space Center, nicknamed "VandyLand" by Air Force personnel, was originally established in 1941 as the U.S. Army's Camp Cooke. The facility served as a training center for armored and infantry troops through World War II and again in the Korean War. The base was transferred to the U.S. Air Force in 1957 and began its transformation into a space and ballistic missile test facility. One year later, Cooke Air Force base was renamed in honor of General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, the second chief of staff of the Air Force, who was an early advocate of space and missile operations. Between March 1, 1966 and December 20, 1968, the Air Force also purchased approximately 15,000 acres (61 km2) from the Sudden Ranch property, located south of the installation's original boundaries through the law of eminent domain. This acquisition enlarged the base to its current 98,000 acres (400 km2) of which only 15% is developed. Its relatively remote location and proximity to the coast offers an excellent location to safely conduct test firings of strategic missile weapon systems (Atlas, Titan I, Titan II, Minuteman I/II/III and Peacekeepers) as well as launch satellites into polar orbit without overflying populated areas after liftoff. On December 16, 1958, Vandenberg AFB launched its first Thor ballistic missile. Vandenberg boosted the world's first polar-orbiting satellite, Discoverer 1, aboard a Thor Agena booster combination on February 28, 1959. (The Discoverer 1 mission was used as a cover for the clandestine CIA Corona program.) Both launches occurred from Space Launch Complex 10, which has since been preserved and maintained as an example of a 1950s era launch complex technology. SLC-10 is also classified as a National Historic Landmark. Vandenberg is still the only military installation in the United States that launches unmanned government and commercial satellites into polar orbit. It is also the only site from which ICBMs are launched toward the Kwajalein Atoll to verify weapon system performance. The base is operated by Air Force Space Command's (AFSPC) 30th Space Wing. History from Wikipedia and OldCompany.com (old stock certificate research service).