Chehalis–Centralia Airport is a city-owned public use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located in Chehalis, a city in Lewis County,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The airport lies one

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

(1.6 km) west of the town. Originally begun on farmland in 1927, the airfield was known as Donahoe Field and it hosted a small golf course. The airfield was seized for military use during World War II and became known as the County-City Airport, with transfer of ownership and management between Centralia, Chehalis, and Lewis County in the early 1960s. Chehalis became sole-owner of the airport in 2013. Once a hub for

West Coast Airlines West Coast Airlines was a United States local service carrier, a scheduled airline certificated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, ...

from the mid 1940s into the late 1950s, the airport does not host a commercial air service. , the airfield experiences approximately 50,000 flight operations per year. The airport is situated in a floodplains and has experienced several inundations of floodwaters over the course of its history. Surrounded by a large levee first constructed during the second world war, various upgrades and expansions of flood control measures have been implemented in the 21st century.

History

20th century

The area was first served by an airport during the early 1900s on the Borst family homestead located near the

Skookumchuck River The Skookumchuck River is a long river located in southwest Washington, United States. It is a tributary of the Chehalis River, which is the largest drainage basin located entirely within the state. The name, Skookumchuck, is derived from Chin ...

and present-day Fort Borst Park in Centralia. The city of Centralia began an official airfield near the park in 1926. Known as the Centralia Municipal Air Field, the site was dedicated in August 1928 but the airport endeavor ceased by the mid-1930s due to a combination of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and competition with the Chehalis airport. Chehalis–Centralia Airport began in 1927, when the Donahoe family, which also owned an adjoining golf course, sold the city of Chehalis and Lewis County approximately of their farm for over $13,000. The parcel, known as Paul Donahoe Field, was originally a dirt runway and was dedicated as an airstrip on May 21, 1927 during a ceremony attended by an estimated crowd of 4,000 people, with flying performances by a dozen aircraft, including military airships. The nine-hole golf course was also part of the dedication. In 1928, the first hangar was built. Existing in the present day, it measured at its beginning. During the same year, the county purchased an additional to expand the airfield. The grounds contained three airstrips and buildings in Chehalis were marked with directional arrows. The airstrips, in a north-to-south alignment, measured and by 1931 were considered to be grass and sod. The airport contained modern amenities of the time, including a fuel supply, telephone, and a weather reporting station. The city of Chehalis was one of 11 locations, which included Portland and Seattle, to receive a 7,500,000

candlepower Candlepower (abbreviated as cp or CP) is a unit of measurement for luminous intensity. It expresses levels of light intensity relative to the light emitted by a candle of specific size and constituents. The historical candlepower is equal to 0.981 ...

beacon during a 1926 initiative to improve night flying for air mail on the Pacific Coast. The airport was approved to be lighted for night flying beginning in August 1929. The $6,000 project was authorized and funded by the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...

's airway division. By September, the airfield, described as a municipal airport, was leased to the federal government and the installation of the lighting began. The grounds were also prepared for use as an emergency airstrip. Management of the airport was undertaken by the St. John Air Service from the late 1920s into the mid-1930s. During this time, the ''Queen of the Cowlitz'', a sister airship to Charles Lindbergh's, ''

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...

'', was based at Donahoe Field. In 1941, the airfield, still listed as hosting three airstrips, was increased in size after an additional were purchased. By the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the airport covered , and became known as the County-City Airport. During the war, the federal government seized the airport, using it as a training facility for new pilots and a practice strip for Boeing bombers, and also developed two runways. In 1959, Chehalis annexed the airport land and the following year, ownership of the airfield was officially transferred to the city and the site run cooperatively with the county. After several local government delays, by September 1961 an official airport partnership between Centralia, Chehalis, and Lewis County was formed. The second runway was decommissioned beginning with efforts in 1978 to convert the land into a commercial area for retail businesses.

21st century

Centralia withdrew from the joint operating agreement in 2004 due to concerns over contract violations, liability, and cost-benefits. Lewis County, which had been a 50% co-owner of the airport with the city of Chehalis since 1961, also relinquished its rights to the airfield in late 2013 despite opposition from the Chehalis-Centralia Airport board. The county considered the joint-ownership to be cumbersome and unnecessary. Concerns included that county involvement was possibly hindering growth and funding or completion of flood mitigation projects. Additionally, the city of Chehalis had, for some time, almost complete oversight and interest of the airport. The transfer of full-ownership to Chehalis was official on January 1, 2014. In 2020, the airport was granted a loan through the

Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...

(WSDOT), with an estimated completion cost of $1.48 million, to construct two, above-ground fuel storage tanks, with additional requirements towards environmental hazard mitigation, emergency preparedness, contamination control, and "cultural resource monitoring". The Aviation Division of WSDOT chose Chehalis–Centralia Airport in 2021 as one of six beta-test sites in Washington state to be used as an airfield for electric aircraft. The same year, the airport was awarded $59,000 through the Airport Rescue Grant via the

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to sp ...

due to COVID-19 pandemic economic hardships. Airport landholdings expanded in late 2023 with a $316,000 purchase of a surplus property owned by the city. Known as the Barnes property, it is located directly south of Airport Lake and though the land is within the levee, the area is prone to minor flooding due to a small creek on the grounds. No immediate plans for the usage of the new property by the airport were proposed. Expansion of the northern section of airport was begun in 2024 under a plan known as the Chehalis Hub for Aviation Innovation and Sustainable Energy (CHAISE), a project meant to help the airport to produce renewable energy and as a site for the demonstration of new aviation technology. The Chehalis city council formally adopted a required FAA master plan in February 2025, the first since 2001. The airport is estimated to reach approximately 70,000 flight operations per year by 2045.

Accidents and incidents

Four people were killed in a September 1951 plane crash. The

Stinson Voyager The Stinson Voyager was an American light utility monoplane built during the 1940s by the Stinson Aircraft Company. Development First developed as the Stinson HW-75 and marketed as the Model 105 in 1939, the design was a high-wing three-seat br ...

caught fire a minute after take off from the airfield. In September 1959, the body of Sherry Edgell, a nine year-old girl from Centralia, was found near the airport. The murder of Edgell remains unsolved. During the

Columbus Day storm of 1962 The Columbus Day storm of 1962 (also known as the big blow of 1962, and originally in Canada as Typhoon Freda) was a Pacific Northwest windstorm that struck the West Coast of Canada and the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States on Octobe ...

, 13 aircraft were destroyed due to wind gusts reaching as high as . A police chief suffered a skull fracture when he was struck by debris after one of the hangars blew apart during the storm. In March 1991, a passenger died during the crash of a

Piper PA-24 Comanche The Piper PA-24 Comanche is an American single-engine, low-wing, all-metal monoplane of semimonocoque construction with tricycle Landing gear, retractable landing gear and four or six seats. The Comanche was designed and built by Piper Aircraft ...

into a building near the airport. The plane, which was found later to have an "improperly seated crankshaft gear" that led to other failures of the craft, was diverting to the Chehalis-Centralia Airport for an emergency landing. A father and son survived a plane crash outside the Chehalis-Centralia Airport in January 1997. The plane dove nose first after its engine died during flight. The Piper Arrow clipped its wing on the ground of a corn field during the attempted landing. A two-seat,

Grumman American AA-1 The Grumman American AA-1 series is a family of light, two-seat aircraft. The family includes the original American Aviation AA-1 Yankee and AA-1A Trainer along with the TR-2. The TR-2 has a cruise propeller and the trainer has a climb ...

single-engine plane crashed into a pond south of the runway in December 2002. The crash was caused due to an attempt to land under an incoming fog bank. Both passengers, a father and son, survived, but the older man suffered brain injuries stemming from being underwater for an extended time. Three men died after their twin-engine

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

, which departed from the airport, crashed near Glenoma in October 2010. The pilot, Ken Sabin, was a board member of the Chehalis-Centralia Airport. He reported a loss of power to an engine. The airport board proposed the following year that a portion of Airport Way, which leads to the terminal area, be renamed in Sabin's honor. Another loss of life after a crash occurred in August 2014 when the pilot of a Loehle 5151 Mustang crashed into a local business parking lot across the interstate, setting fire to the aircraft and several automobiles. Despite ideal flight conditions, it was concluded that the takeoff was "unclean" as the plane was reported to bounce off the tarmac. The plane, which flew without a filed flight plan, achieved lift but struggled with instability, making an extreme bank before crashing.

Flooding

During the Second World War, the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

built levees around the airfield and in 1942 installed a levee pump. Two large floods in 1990 and 1996 caused severe inundations at the airfield, damaging some aircraft. The events, in association with levee regulations at airports, led to of fill added to the grounds meant to raise buildings above the high-water mark of a flood event. During severe flooding due to the

Great Coastal Gale of 2007 The Great Coastal Storm of 2007 was a series of three powerful Pacific storms that affected the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia between December 1 and December 4, 2007. The storms on December 2 ...

, the airfield was underwater by as much and of silt and mud covered the runway. During the ordeal, the original 1942 pump failed, forcing an intentional break of the levee that led to increased damages in the community. In preparation of a 2009 flood, fifty aircraft that could not be evacuated were moved to atop the levee. A modern, electric two-pump station was completed in 2018 with funding provided by the Chehalis River Basin Authority at a cost of $1.14 million. The pumps, able to siphon as much as 12,000 gallons per minute, worked without fail during a January 2022 flood event.

Notable aviators

The earliest recorded aviator in the area was John Brown, who attempted to construct an airplane at the Tynan Opera House in Chehalis. However, there is no record that the apparatus ever achieved flight. The first aviator to achieve flight in Lewis County was Claude Berlin, a local grocer who undertook flying lessons to become a licensed pilot. He officially piloted a

Curtiss biplane The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently "Curtiss Pusher") is an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, during an era o ...

over Centralia on May 30, 1912 during the city's Hub City Festival, attempting to bless new buildings by dropping champagne bottles during the flight. He hit at least one of the targets. In 1914, Gustav (George) Stromer took flight during Chehalis' Fourth of July celebrations, and after several issues of mechanics and strong winds, managed to land on the fields at the Green Hill School. Stromer would perform the first recorded night flights in the region, and after a week of performances, survived a crash north of Centralia at Waunch Prairie, ending his flying pursuits in the Twin Cities. Other early aviators include the first woman pilot, listed only as Mrs. Crown, and Kenneth Arnold, famed for his report on flying saucers in 1947.

Scott Crossfield

Scott Crossfield Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006) was an American United States Navy, naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who fl ...

, a test pilot, grew up in nearby

Boistfort, Washington Boistfort () is an unincorporated community in the northwest United States, in Lewis County, Washington, about southwest of Chehalis. Boistfort established, in 1853, the first public school and school district in Lewis County and the Territo ...

and used the airfield in his youth, learning to fly. His first recorded solo flight occurred from what was then known as the Chehalis Municipal Field. In recognition of Crossfield, the airport terminal was named in his honor during a dedication ceremony in 2010, four years after his death; a display of Crossfield's life is located within the building.

Facilities and aircraft

Chehalis–Centralia Airport covers , which contains one asphalt runway: 16/34 measuring . The airport does not contain an

air traffic control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled ai ...

. Surrounded by a levee built by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

, the airport also contains an

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

, aptly named Airport Lake, at the northeast portion of the field. The lake is a remnant of the Chehalis River and waters are drained by pump over the levee and by a small tunnel. By 1975, the airport had seen the construction of six hangars. Airfield reports in 1975 listed between 45 and 50 based aircraft with a daily average of 50 flights. In 2004, the airport reported an average range of 35,000 to 40,000 takeoffs and landings per year. For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2011, the airport had 47,710 total operations, an average of 131 per day: 90%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

, 9%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

, and <1% military. There were 105 aircraft listed as based at the airport: 81% single-engine, 5% multi-engine, 3% jet, 8%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

, 2%

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

, and 2% glider. A master plan update in 2023 reported an annual operations total of approximately 50,000 flights and the airport was a base for 56 aircraft; over half the flight operations were listed as belonging to small business jets. The 2025 master plan report listed hangar space at 100% capacity. A reproduction of a Douglas World Cruiser, known as the ''Seattle II'', was stored at the airport in the early 2020s. Originally meant to be flown to retrace the route of the original ''Seattle'' during the

first aerial circumnavigation The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was completed in 1924 by four aviators from an eight-man team of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. The 175-day journey from April to September covered ...

of the planet in 1924, international complications prevented the historic attempt. The Liberty V-12 engine-powered craft was flown over

Boeing Field King County International Airport , commonly Boeing Field, is a public airport owned and operated by King County, Washington, King County, south of downtown Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The airport is sometimes r ...

for the company's 100th anniversary and is being decommissioned, with plans to be installed at the

Museum of Flight The Museum of Flight is a private Nonprofit organization, non-profit Aircraft, air and Spacecraft, space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of Boeing Field, King County International Airport (Boeing Fi ...

Tukwila, Washington Tukwila ( ) is a suburban city in King County, Washington, United States, located immediately to the south of Seattle. The population was 21,798 at the 2020 census. A large commercial center draws workers and consumers to the city daily; ind ...

Airport Levee Trail

The Airport Levee Trail is mixed paved-gravel path built atop the dike surrounding the airport and loops for around the airfield and the Twin City Town Center. Built in large part by community efforts and $300,000 in funding from

TransAlta TransAlta Corporation (formerly Calgary Power Company, Ltd.) is an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly. It o ...

, the trail was first available for use in 2010. The trail provides additional views of the Riverside Golf Course, surrounding farmland, and views of the Chehalis River.

Artworks

The Chehalis-Centralia Airport is home to a collage mural, ''Chehalis Celebrates Aviation'', that highlights airplane history in the city.

Interpretive park

An interpretive park is located at the south end entrance of the airstrip. Containing sheltered interpretive panels on the history of the airfield, visitors can also watch aircraft operations. The signs include graphics detailing the life history of Scott Crossfield.

Commercial service

, the Chehalis–Centralia Airport is not served by a commercial airline.

(WCA) previously operated scheduled flights, including round-trips, from Chehalis beginning in October 1946. The original aircraft used was a

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

Mainliner, seating 21 passengers.

Airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be th ...

service was provided the following month. Evening flights were temporarily suspended in summer 1953 by request of the WCA after an unlighted TV tower antenna was constructed from the end of the runway. Due to limited passenger numbers, WCA terminated their contract with the airport in September 1958.

Training and flight programs

The Lewis County

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a Congressional charter, congressionally chartered, federally supported Nonprofit corporation, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliaries, auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CA ...

is stationed at the airport. Providing limited free instruction to people as young as 12 years old, the program offers a flight academy with the possibility to earn a pilot's license. The airport also hosts a chapter of the

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 300,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. ...

(EAA) Flying Start Program, a guidance course meant for adults over the age of 18. The half-day class provides free mentorship, a first flight, and instructions on how to continue flight training in the future. An annual event that coincides with the city's ChehalisFest celebration, the airport hosts free flights for children and teenagers. Referred to as " Young Eagle Flights", a chapter of the EAA, young flyers may even briefly handle the controls of the aircraft. The airport has been host as a layover stop for the

Goodyear Blimp The Goodyear Blimp is any one of a fleet of commercial airships (or dirigibles) operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, used mainly for advertising and capturing aerial views of live sporting events for television. The term blimp itse ...

during trips along the West Coast. The blimp, visiting every few years, provides free tour flights while stationed at the field.

Economy

Several businesses of various size and notability operate on airport land which is part of Chehalis' Twin City Town Center district. The CLS began its commercial and retail business expansion in 1993 by leasing over to

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

for a

lump sum A lump sum is a single payment of money, as opposed to a series of payments made over time (such as an annuity). The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development distinguishes between " price analysis" and " cost analysis" by whether ...

payment of $1.8 million. The airport used a portion of the funds for improvements to airport facilities. Further large companies followed, such a

Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...

and in 2006,

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

. By 2004, approximately of airport land had been converted to commercial space with a lease revenue of $700,000. Economic reports from 2021 and 2022 specify that over 1100 jobs are supported by the airport and the shopping district, with over 500 additional positions of employment that are connected due to the existence of the airfield. The airport receives no annual tax stipend from the state, and is considered "financially self-sustaining", generating $1.2 million in tax revenue to Chehalis and Lewis County and an additional $7.8 million for Washington state. , the 2018 levee pump build was estimated to have a

return on investment Return on investment (ROI) or return on costs (ROC) is the ratio between net income (over a period) and investment (costs resulting from an investment of some resources at a point in time). A high ROI means the investment's gains compare favorab ...

of $39 for every $1 in construction cost, protecting approximately $45 million in property.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chehalis-Centralia Airport Airports in Washington (state) Transportation buildings and structures in Lewis County, Washington