York’s Roosevelt Avenue airport large enough to play host to air mail pick up, corporate travel
The York Airport can be seen running along Roosevelt Avenue in this 1957 photograph. The track at center is the York Fairgrounds. From that reference point, find Roosevelt Avenue and follow it out. Find where it bends. You’ll see a runway at top center. (See additional links to aerial views of York County sites below.) Background posts: Museum exhibit brings back early days of high fliers and Map aficionados will love bird’s-eye view of York County and Absorbing photo and overlay shows locations of six Susquehanna bridges
After seeing views of the old York airport in a previous post, eagle-eye Joe Stein found an aerial view of the York Airport in 1957, still there along Roosevelt Avenue a year after it closed.
I’ve always placed the sprawling airport near the Sylvania Plant along Roosevelt, which appears to be a relatively close landmark designating its northern part.
John F.M. Wolfe, in “Profile of Aviation,” gives the following facts about the airport, which sported two grass runways, including one 3,000-foot strip:
– Oscar Hostetter, owner of the Thomasville airport, built a new facility north of Lincoln Park and west of Roosevelt Avenue in 1946 because it wasn’t easy or convenient to travel to Thomasville.
– The land he purchased was owned by Gen. Jacob L. Devers’ great-grandfather.
– The Roosevelt Avenue airport offered air mail pick up in the summer of 1949.
– The Careva Corporation, Campbell Chain Company, American Insulator Company, S. Morgan Smith Company and New York Wire Cloth Company flew aircraft from this airport.
– “T” hangars located at the Roosevelt Avenue airport were later dismantled and moved to Thomasville. The land was later developed.
– The airport closed in 1956 and operations were centralized in Thomasville.
Other posts with aerial views:
– Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph
– Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging Sears photograph, Part II
– Just try to resist this memory-tugging photo of North York’s White Oak Park
– So, can you find long-gone Springwood Park in this aerial photograph?
– Camp Security area of Springettsbury Township from the air
– Columbia-Wrightsville Susquehanna River bridges from the air.
