Washington-Hoover Airport

[2][3][4][5] It was constructed on Hell's Bottom,[6] a 37.5 acres (15.2 ha) site at the foot of the Highway Bridge in Arlington County, Virginia (formerly a horse racing track) directly across the Potomac River from the city.Arlington Beach, a local amusement park, was northeast of the airport next to the Highway Bridge, and a landfill stood on the north-northwestern edge of the field.[14] The United States Department of Agriculture owned the 400 acres (160 ha) Arlington Experimental Farm immediately adjacent to the northeastern end of the runway.[20] Berliner's finances were significantly damaged by the fire, and he sold his interest in Hoover Field to E. W. Robertson's Mount Vernon Airways on July 20, 1928.On December 30, 1929, a group of investors led by R.H. Reiffen, chairman of the New Standard Aircraft Company, seized control of Atlantic Seaboard Airways and Hoover Field.[26] Safety at the airfield improved somewhat in mid-1932, after Arlington County commissioners revoked permits for the burning of trash at all landfills in the county—including the one next to Hoover Field, but not the one next to Washington Airport.[27] In May 1932, the airport paid local electric power and telephone companies to bury their lines obstructing the landing and take-off lanes.[37] The columns, however, posed a serious hazard to planes landing at Washington Airport, and an 18-month political and legislative battle ensued before the threat was defeated in February 1932.[43] Federal Aviation announced it was buying an additional 104 acres (42 ha) for $675,000, with the goal of merging the two airports and creating a six-runway field with one runway dedicated solely to departing flights.[57] Eastern Airlines also served Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York from Hoover Airport, with southbound service to Miami via Richmond, Raleigh, Charleston, Savannah, Brunswick, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Orlando, Vero Beach and West Palm Beach; to Tampa via Richmond, Greensboro, Charlotte, Greenville, Atlanta and Tallahassee; to Houston via Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and New Orleans; and to Brownsville, Texas (then one of the primary Latin American terminals of Pan American World Airways) via Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi.[58] Pennsylvania Central Airlines operated flights from Washington to Baltimore, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Chicago."[63] He strongly attacked the field's inability to keep the sod runways and taxiing areas properly drained, and said there was no reason why mere rain should close the airport.[63] Major J. Carroll Cone, assistant director for aeronautic development within the U.S. Department of Commerce, said the airport was "the worst in the United States", said it was "admittedly inadequate", and that "its continuing use is out of the question.High-tension electrical wires and tall radio towers still lined the field's west side, and a high smokestack and U.S. Route 1 were to its south.Assistant Secretary of Commerce Ewing Y. Mitchell asked the United States Department of War in August 1933 to close Military Road and relocate it, and pledged to seek newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt's intervention if this effort failed.[74] Samuel Solomon, a D.C. lawyer, was appointed head of Washington-Hoover Airport in October 1933, and began lobbying heavily for Military Road's closure as well.[105] This bill, which would have provided for construction of a new Military Road and transferred 53 acres (21 ha) of the Arlington Experimental Farm to the airport, was vetoed by President Roosevelt.In late 1933, the city asked the Public Works Administration to purchase the airport, but the agency refused (citing the high cost of land).In April 1933, a filling station near Washington Airport refused to pay taxes to the state of Virginia, arguing that the land on which it stood was part of the District of Columbia.In December 1935, the Boundary Commission issued a compromise report, giving the federal government (which represented the District) title to all land east of the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway.[120] The rapid expansion in aircraft size and weight as well as the need for enhanced airfield safety led the U.S. Department of Commerce to threaten to close Washington-Hoover again.In June 1937, the department promulgated new rules requiring runways to be lengthened by as much as 2,000 feet (610 m) and for all obstructions for take-off and landing flight paths to be removed.[106] Airport officials later said they hoped that the federal government would take over Washington-Hoover, greatly expand it, and operate it as a joint public-private enterprise with National Aviation.[125][126] The airfield also proposed filling in part of the lagoon that formed the southern end of Boundary Channel, so that a much-needed, much longer cross-runway could be built at the field.J. Willard Marriott, noticing the many passengers at Washington-Hoover Airport without access to food, opened the world's first airline catering business there in 1937.[130] Washington-Hoover officials immediately announced a plan to secure an additional 110 acres (45 ha) of land and build five runways about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) long.[134] The March 1939 Official Aviation Guide shows 41 weekday airline departures: 24 Eastern (including 11 nonstops to Newark), 9 American and 8 Pennsylvania Central.But in a surprise move, President Roosevelt announced on September 28, 1938, that a new 750 acres (300 ha) airport would be built on existing and reclaimed land at Gravelly Point.[135] Roosevelt, worried that war in Europe and Asia was looming, became convinced that a new, modern, safe facility was needed for national defense reasons.[144] In October 1940, Congress passed legislation transferring the Arlington Experimental Farm to the United States Army, and authorizing the purchase of Washington-Hoover by the federal government.