The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted a large development / improvement program at the City of Bridgeport’s municipal airport, located in Stratford. It is now known as Sikorsky Memorial Airport. Official Project Number: 165‐1‐15‐34 Total project cost: $1,053,827.00 Sponsor: City… read more
“Federal New Deal employment programs of the Great Depression further upgraded the airfield. In 1933, the Commerce Department’s Aeronautics Branch and the Civil Works Administration (CWA) began a nationwide program of airport development. The CWA funded 13,108 man-hours of labor… read more
“In 1937 WPA funds were granted to Snohomish County Airport. $225,000 was granted by the War Department who oversaw all airport construction and renovation between 1933 and 1938.”
The WPA built one main runway and two cross runways, in addition to such things as ditches for drainage, fences and a new hangar roof.
Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews built the Salt Lake City Municipal Airport II, now known as South Valley Regional Airport, in 1942.
The Spartanburg Municipal Airport opened in 1927. The Civil Works Administration graded the field, erected two runways and completed a new lighting system in 1933-1934. Work was noted to be started by 22 December 1933 and was to be completed… read more
Previously known as Sunset Field, the property was renamed Geiger Field in 1941 and eventually became the Spokane International Airport. After the city leased the area to the military in 1939, the WPA and the army jointly cleared and leveled… read more
This small airport was part of a massive upgrading of the airports in the state after a January 1934 survey by Capt. Harry M. Jones with the intention of building a chain of airports in coastal towns, inland towns, and… read more
A 1940 WPA publication cites the WPA as having worked on the Davis State Forestry Airport sometime between 1935 and 1939. Although the exact date and extent of involvement is not known, the airport appears to have been built in… read more
Steven A. Bean Municipal Airport (FAA LID: 8B0) is a town owned, public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) northwest of the central business district of Rangeley, a town in Franklin County, Maine. It has one runway designated… read more
Stinson Field was established by the Stinson family at this location in 1916. The family were accomplished aviators and had been running a flying school at nearby Fort Sam Houston prior to leasing this 500 acre plot of land from… read more
These WPA archive photos show WPA electricians, mechanics, and workmen installing a new power plant and field lights at Syracuse Municipal Airport. The airport closed down in the late 1940s.
“The development of Drew Field was a WPA project of major importance… In 1933, when Tampa began planning projects to provide work for the unemployed with federal assistance, Drew Field came back into the picture. The city’s lease on the… read more
‘These twin hangars were constructed for permanent use to be part of a future flying field but were made available for temporary use by the exposition. Each structure has mechanically operated doors 200 feet wide and 40 feet high with… read more
“Late in the ’30s, the Works Progress Administration built the Tri-City Airport in Endicott, N.Y.”
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped to construct what was then known as McKellar Field during the Great Depression. Two runways of hard surface material, one 4,000 feet and one 3,000 feet, a two-story administration building with control tower,… read more
The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted a massive development / improvement program at what is now known as Tweed New Haven Airport. Official Project Number: 165‐1‐15‐30 Total project cost: $3,031,708.00 Sponsor: City of New Haven
Between 1935 and 1939 the WPA maintained, expanded, and improved Suiter Field (now Upolu Airport). Upolu still operates today as a small regional airport.
The airport at Virginia Tech, now known as Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport, was enlarged as part of a Work Projects Administration (WPA) project completed in 1940.
The Visalia Municipal airport was founded in 1927. In 1941, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) spent $375,000 improving the airport. The work included the construction of a new terminal building and a new, longer runway of nearly 5000 feet. WPA… read more
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) began and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) completed improvement work at the former Wardwell Field airport. The airport, which was six miles north of Casper, is no longer extant; the former airport property is… read more
A stone airport hangar at Watertown Regional Airport in South Dakota was constructed by the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) during the Great Depression. The exact location and status of tis structure is presently unknown to Living New Deal.
A 3000′ sod airfield that operated from 1925 to 1941 next to the golf course, After 1927 supplies were regularly flown in to supply the large hotel complex. A WPA project Oct. 10, 1935 mentions construction both at Mariposa and… read more
The Works Progress Administration extended and built additional facilities for the Wertz Airport in Charleston. The additions included an administration building. The airport serves today under the name Yeager Airport. In 1930 Wertz field was developed in Institute. Operated by West Virginia… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor worked to develop what is now Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, then Westfield Air Base. Project details: “Make improvements at airport” Official Project Number: 165‐1‐14‐237 Total project cost: $1,178,513.00 Sponsor: Mayor, City of Westfield “Improve field by… read more
“President Roosevelt signed a $750,000 Works Progress Administration (WPA) project bill for the air base’s construction in November 1939. Fourteen hundred WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers cleared the land, and actual construction was started in February 1940.” W.P.A…. read more
“In 1934, Wylie Apte accepted their offer and became the manager of the airport operations at the White Mountain Airport. Wylie persuaded the White Mountain Airport Corporation to clear away the trees so that he could taxi near the highway,… read more
Now officially Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, what was originally Wichita Municipal Airport was improved and developed by the W.P.A. during the 1930s. Improvement work included paving the runways.
“The Wyoming Valley Airport, located in Forty Fort and Wyoming and built in the 1920s, was expanded and given a paved runway through WPA, enabling it to handle passenger and freight traffic – including early air mail — and help… read more
The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted development / improvement projects at Windham Airport. “Improve airport” Official Project Numbers: 165‐1‐15‐159, 165‐1‐15‐83 Total project cost: $190,377.00 (per project) Sponsor: Town of Windham “Extend landing strips and runways, clear land, grade, drain and… read more
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked to construct / develop an airport in Cody, Wyoming. The airport is likely a precursor on the same site as what is now Yellowstone Regional Airport.
“The Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport began as the Youngstown Municipal Airport (MAP), and was one of the last Works Progress Administration projects. Construction began in 1939 and the airport opened a year later. The airport is 11 miles north of Youngstown… read more