The 1940 Air Terminal Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

located in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, at William P. Hobby Airport. Collections are housed in the original

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

building which served as the first purpose-built

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devi ...

for passenger flight in Houston. The museum currently exhibits several collections focusing on Houston's civil

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes airplane, fixed-wing and helicopter, rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as aerostat, lighter- ...

history and is operated by the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society (HAHS), a recognized Texas 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

History

DC-3 Aircraft at Houston Municipal Airport, Eastern Airlines

The museum is housed in the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal building, a streamline moderne

airport terminal An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer th ...

built with

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Reco ...

(PWA) funds in 1940. The terminal building is among the few surviving examples of classic

airport architecture from the 1940s. The terminal served Houston during the years when air travelers dressed in their best and embarked for destinations aboard roaring prop liners like the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by 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 versi ...

and the

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...

. Designed by architect

Joseph Finger Joseph Finger (7 March 1887 – 6 February 1953) was an Austrian American architect. After immigrating to the United States in 1905, Finger settled in Houston, Texas in 1908, where he would remain for the duration of his life. Finger is best ...

(who also designed Houston's

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

), the terminal was designed to meet Houston's growing role as a center for air commerce in the late 1930s. The terminal served as the only commercial air terminal for Houston until 1954, and was subsequently used by various tenants until 1978. In that year, Hobby Airport's manager James Delong proposed demolishing the 1940 terminal to free up ramp space, but enthusiasts blocked the demolition. The terminal was then unoccupied for nearly 20 years. In 1988 Stephen Fox of ''

Cite A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...

'' said that the terminal was "in very shabby condition."Fox, Stephen.
Garden Villas An Architectural Tour
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Archive
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''. Northern Hemisphere Spring-Summer 1988. Retrieved on June 1, 2012.

Restoration and modern use

The city of Houston stabilized the exterior of the building, and members of the Houston Aviation Alliance worked to save the terminal. In 1998, the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society (HAHS), a nonprofit organization, was formed primarily to save the threatened terminal building. HAHS recognized that funding and renovation must be completed in phases, and created a plan to restore the building over time. In late 2003, HAHS's contractors completed the

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

and lead abatement of the north wing of the terminal. The abatement process stripped the original

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

from the interior walls, leaving the non-loadbearing tile curtain walls of the terminal intact. The North Wing of the Air Terminal was opened to the public in February 2004 as the first phase of the museum. The restored North Wing of the terminal housed the museum's collection and gift shop and served as the museum's base of operations while completing fund raising and restoration of the remainder of the building. The rest of the building completed

abatement in May 2008 and completed atrium and mezzanine reconstruction in February 2009. The full lower floor will be restored to its original condition when funds permit. The museum will spread out and occupy the entire first floor of the terminal building and then begin renovation of the upper floors. The American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) designated the 1940 Air Terminal Museum a Historic Aerospace Site. The 1940 Air Terminal is the AIAA's 35th aerospace site recognized as a rare example of classic

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

airport architecture. In February 2010, the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society was presented with a Good Brick Award for excellence in preservation for the 1940 Air Terminal Museum. Good Brick Awards are given annually from the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. In 2008 the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

'' declared the terminal the "Best Piece of Aviation History". In 2008, HAHS was granted a license to the oldest

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

on Hobby Airport's grounds, a 1929 Great Silver Fleet Maintenance Hangar. The organization used this hangar to display larger exhibits from the collection, such as three

simulators A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the ...

, and HAHS's aircraft collection, which includes a 1942

Lockheed Lodestar The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era. Design and development Sales of the 10–14 passenger Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, which first flew in 1937, had proved disappointing, despite the ai ...

executive businessliner, and an S-58 Sikorsky Helicopter that was outfitted for civilian heavy lifting.

Funding and special events

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum receives funding through grants from many

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

and public foundations, as well as individual donors. The museum also operates a Members' Program, which allows special access to some functions for members. The museum and its buildings are also available for private functions. HAHS currently benefits from several fundraisers: *Wings and Wheels- every third Saturday of the month, the 1940 Air Terminal Museum has static displays of aircraft and cars. *Pops & Props Gala- an annual fundraising dinner and dance. *Win-A-Plane Raffle- an annual raffle for a beautifully restored vintage plane. *Hobby Fest- the large, annual Wings and Wheels with several special guests, rides, and prizes.

The Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum is the project of the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society. The Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society is a Texan non-profit corporation founded to research, promote and preserve the aeronautical heritage of Houston and southeast Texas. The society was founded in 1998 by a group of aviation, architecture and history enthusiasts. The society includes persons from all walks of life, including students and retirees, architects and attorneys, educators and engineers, community leaders and commercial pilots. The Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society is recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service. The society is funded through private and public grants, corporate and personal contributions and net proceeds from revenue generating endeavors such as museum memberships and gift shop sales.

References

External links

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at William P. Hobby AirportHouston Airport System — William P. Hobby Airport

Houston 1940 Air Terminal Museum
— pictures on

Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and profession ...

1940 Air Terminal Museum
— pictures on

*Gonzalez, J. R.
1941 photos show scenes at Houston Municipal Airport
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. May 10, 2010. {{authority control Transport infrastructure completed in 1940 Museums established in 2003 Museums in Houston Aerospace museums in Texas Airport terminals Art Deco architecture in Texas Joseph Finger buildings 1940 establishments in Texas 2003 establishments in Texas Public Works Administration in Texas