Marfa Airport is a former airport, located 2 miles Northeast of

Marfa, Texas Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. It is the county seat of Presidio County, Texas, Presidio County, and its population as of the 2010 United States Cens ...

. Airport operations ended in 1945.

History

The airport was established by the

Air Service, United States Army The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

in 1919 as part of a series of military airfields along the Texas/Mexico border. Assigned to the Army Surveillance Group (ASG) Marfa Airfield was used to carry out observation overflights along the Mexican Border. During this period, Mexico was enduring a period of revolution and unrest, which led to border violations and the deaths of American citizens. The 104th Surveillance Squadron operated

Dayton-Wright DH-4 The Dayton-Wright Company was formed in 1917, on the declaration of war between the United States and Germany, by a group of Ohio investors that included Charles F. Kettering and Edward A. Deeds of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company ( DELCO ...

reconnaissance aircraft from Marfa Field beginning in November 1919. As the unrest in Mexico died down by the middle of 1921, the 104th moved back to

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. In ...

, Texas in July. The next use of the airfield was when the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

refitted the facility as one of its network of Intermediate Landing Fields, which were established in the 1920s & 1930s to serve as emergency landing fields along commercial airways between major cities. It was also used by the City of Marfa as their municipal airport. However, the Marfa Municipal Airport continued to be used by the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

on an as-needed basis until the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At some point after the establishment of the much larger

Marfa Army Airfield Marfa may refer to: Music * Marfa (instrument), an African percussion instrument * Marfa (music), celebratory music of the Hyderabadi Muslims Places * Márfa, a village in Baranya county, Hungary * Marfa, Chad * Marfa, Texas, a city in the hi ...

in 1942, Marfa Municipal Airport was taken over by the Army Air Forces and was designated as Marfa Auxiliary Airfield #7. Three paved 5,000' runways were laid down, and it supported the training mission of Marfa AAF and was frequently used by

Cessna AT-17 Bobcat The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-engine advanced trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and larger multi-engine combat aircraft. The ...

twin engine trainers and

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

Medium Bombers. At the end of the war, Marfa AAF and all of its auxiliary airfields were closed, and turned over to the

War Assets Administration The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Ord ...

in 1947 for disposition. The City of Marfa, however, chose to re-establish their municipal airport at the larger Marfa AAF, and the pre-war Marfa Municipal Airport was never used again as an airport. The land was sold and the property eventually was re-used as a Country Club. There are no remains of the former military airfield and civil airport.

References

Abandoned Airfields, Marfa Airport, Texas
{{refend 1919 establishments in Texas Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Texas Defunct airports in Texas Airports established in 1945 1945 disestablishments in Texas Airports disestablished in 1945

History

See also

References