Dale Mabry Field is a former airport 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Tallahassee, Florida.Once the city purchased it, it was named Dale Mabry Field in honor of Tallahassee native Army Captain Dale Mabry, killed in 1922 while commanding the Army semi-rigid airship Roma on February 21, 1922, which crashed at Norfolk, Virginia.National Airlines began service to Jacksonville, Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans that year.In October 1940 military activity began with the construction of a railroad siding and drainage improvements to overcome the swamp conditions.Hundreds of laborers began clearing swampland for temporary quarters for Dale Mabry Army Air Base.
First scheduled flight in 1938 by Eastern Airlines with Douglas DC-2. Airline President Capt.
Eddie Rickenbacker
is fourth from left. In the photo, left to right, are Ben H. Bridges, Mayor J.R. Jinks, Honorable Robert Ramspect,
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker
, Mrs. Joe Giddens, Wilet Moore, Mrs. Jewell Puckett, City manager H.P. Ford, Ralph McGill, Colonel C.L. Waller, W.B. Hartsfield, Smythe Gambrel, C.F. Palmer, Paul Brattain, Sidney L. Shannon, Captain W.S. Dawson, W.V. Crowley.