- City:
- Portland, ME
- Site Type:
- Infrastructure and Utilities, Airports
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs, Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
- Completed:
- 1940
Description
“Like many community airports, Portland International Jetport had its beginnings as the private field of a flying fan. Today, the Jetport is one of the nation’s fastest-growing airports, serving most of the major domestic airlines and over 1.6 million passengers a year.
Dr. Clifford “Kip” Strange first created space on his extensive Portland land for his own plane in the late 1920s. Before long, there were a couple of grass runways on his land that attracted other flyers.
Meanwhile, Boston & Maine Airways inaugurated airline service at the Portland facility when it moved from Scarborough in 1934. The City of Portland bought the airfield in 1936 and built a third runway. The 1930s were a time of colorful characters performing in air shows and unauthorized dogfights. In 1940, the Works Progress Administration built Portland’s first real terminal, a brick structure that is now the general aviation terminal.” (https://www.portlandjetport.org)
Source notes
https://www.portlandjetport.org/about_the_portland_international_jetport/history
Site originally submitted by Andrew Laverdiere on March 23, 2014.
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