Santa Rosa Municipal Airport Aerial View
Description
Although the exact dates and type of work are not known, the WPA worked on the Santa Rosa Municipal Airport sometime between 1935 and 1939, as noted in Lawson final report on the Works Progress Administration.
A source on the airport describes its history in the following way:
“The original airport for the town of Santa Rosa was a small field located on the northwest side of Santa Rosa. The date of construction of the Santa Rosa Municipal Airport has not been determined. The earliest depiction which has been located of the Santa Rosa Municipal Airport was on the October 29, 1929 Commerce Department Airway Bulletin…
A 1936 airport directory described the Santa Rosa Municipal Airport in basically an unchanged fashion.
[In 1937] The field was described as an irregularly-shaped sod field containing 3 runways,with the longest being the 3,000′ northeast/southwest strip.
The original Santa Rosa Municipal Airport was evidently closed at some point between 1937-45, as it was no longer listed among active airfields in the 1945 AAF Airfield Directory.
A 1953 aerial photo depicted both the original Santa Rosa Municipal Airport, as well as the new Santa Rosa Airpark.
As seen in a circa 2006 aerial photo, the site of the former Santa Rosa Municipal Airport has been densely redeveloped.”
Source notes
William R. Lawson. "Achievements, Federal Works Agency. Work Projects Administration, Northern California." 1940: 46.
https://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/CA/Airfields_CA_SantaRosa.html#santarosamuni
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