38°52′N 77°03′W / 38.87°N 77.05°W
Hoover Field | |
|---|---|
 Hoover Field (bottom and left) and Washington Airport (right) at the foot of Highway Bridge in 1932 | |
| Summary | |
| Owner | Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (1925-June 1927) Henry Berliner (June 1927-July 1928) Mt. Vernon Airways (July 1928-November 1928) International Airways (November 1928-January 1929) Atlantic Seaboard Airways (January 1929-December 29, 1929) New Standard Aircraft Company (December 30, 1929-July 31, 1933) National Aviation Corporation (July 31, 1933-merger on August 2, 1933) |
| Serves | Washington Metropolitan Area |
| Location | Arlington County, Virginia |
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Hoover Field was an early airport serving the city of Washington, D.C. It was constructed as a private airfield in 1925, but opened to public commercial use on July 16, 1926. It was located in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection of the Highway Bridge and the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway, where The Pentagon and its northern parking lots now stand.[1]
Considered one of the most hazardous airfields in the United States, Hoover Field suffered from short and unpaved runways, numerous life-threatening obstructions around the field, poor visibility (due to a burning garbage dump to its northwest), and poor drainage. It was purchased by the owner of nearby Washington Airport in early 1929, causing a brief merger of the two fields, but was sold to a new owner just 12 months later. It nearly went bankrupt in 1933, and was sold at auction and merged with Washington Airport to become Washington-Hoover Airport on August 2, 1933.
Washington-Hoover Airport closed in June 1941. Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) was built as its replacement.
- ^ Peck, 2005, p. 8.