How Newark Airport became a reality
The airport is the realization of an idea originated two years ago when residents of the village began discussing the possibility of an airport and the village board appointed S.D. Hallagan, Karl Herman and Peter Kemper as a committee to study the matter of getting the airport in Newark.
News came that the government had established a mail line across the state from Albany to Buffalo and would need an emergency landing between Syracuse and Rochester. Public spirited residents saw that this would put Newark 'on the map,' and contribute greatly to the growth of the village in the future. Negotiations were carried on quietly for several weeks by Mayor Frank Baltzel, Postmaster Arthur Christy and Henry J. Wildhack, president of the Chamber of Commerce, with the village airport committee aided by Congressman John Taber. The matter was taken up at the Lions Club and was received very favorably and every member pledged his willingness to buy stock in the company to be organized for the purpose of handling the remainder of the Pierson farm, the land left after taking out the airport. Henry Rogers, Harry Parker; Charles Perkins, Charles Drake and Burnette Kelley were named as a committee to secure stock subscribers.
G.R. FitzGerald, airway extension superintendent of the Department of Commerce, made a survey of the section between the two cities and approved of the location picked for the airport declaring it to be the best found in this section. In starting a government port, the municipality buys or leases the land, the government grades, fences and lights it, erects a gas and oil station ands furnishes a caretaker, leasing the ground from the community at one dollar a year The field may not be used for commercial purposes, planes may land but, may not remain on the field overnight. After a period of five years, the land may be taken back by the village at the same time and be used as a commercial field, with the restriction that no planes be allowed on the field at night to avoid trouble in landing mail planes after dark.
The village board appropriated $10,000 to buy the airport and the local committee secured 52 men to finance the remaining $15,000 needed to complete the purchase of the farm. The 52 backers elected Henry J. Wildhack, president and LeRoy Wright, secretary and adopted the name of Newark Airport Realty Committee and elected five trustees with full power to act for the Realty Committee. The trustees are: F. Burnett Kelley, Stuart Hallagan, Clifford Newton, Robert S. Bloomer, and Gordon Meyer. This committee in turn appointed Arthur N. Christy as chairman of the executive committee for the opening day and empowered him to select his own chairmen.
John S. Beardslee, junior civil engineer of the Department of Commerce acclaimed the land in good condition to be transformed into an airport and reported very much interest in the project. Senator J. Griswold Webb, chairman of the joint legislature committee on aviation, approved strongly. The port was approved by the Federal authorities in April and contracts were arranged. Arthur Christy visited the Airport Division of the Department of Commerce in Washington and was told all details were approved. Official approval was received by Mayor Baltzel from F.C. Ringsberg, chief engineer of the airways division of the Department of Commerce.
The documents included a copy of the lease of the port to the Federal government and it provided the property could be taken over by the village on six months notice. Local contractors were asked to submit bids, two beacon lights were ordered in addition to the boundary lights. The airplane distance between Albany and Buffalo is 250 miles and the beacons were designated to be 10 miles apart. The contract to light the entire airway was let to B. & B. Construction Company of Cleveland. It was also stipulated that a wind direction indicator should be built and a 51-foot tower carrying an electric code beacon erected two miles north of the Newark field on the Schwab farm near Fairville in the direct line of flight.
On July 2 Lady Mary Heath landed at the airport and declared that even in the unfinished condition it was as good as some fields which had been in existence for sometime. She was the first flyer to land at the port.
The two beacon lights 51 feet high will be visible for three miles and boundary lights will surround the field. At the end of each runway two green lights will serve as mark. Obstruction lights will be erected on the Lincoln school and probably on several houses. All these lights will take about 6,000 feet of inch cable which will lie along the ground in order to eliminate suspended wires. The construction company will erect a small building to house the light control apparatus. The roof will be chrome yellow on one side in six foot black letters will be painted C. A. for commercial airport and on the other side which the figure 28 which will also be six feet high.
A decision was made by the airport opening committee and several of the officers of the general committee to hold the formal opening of the airport Labor Day, and plans were immediately started to arrange for a gala event in the village of Newark and the arrangement of a program to make the opening a success. Negotiations were begun immediately with outstanding people in the aviation field and village matters such as parking problems and police protection were discussed and planned. Government Engineer L. Mead Hammond, in charge of construction work on airports from Albany to Buffalo, and L. A. LaCoste, inspector of airways construction, gave assurance that everything possible would be done to have the Newark port opened on Labor Day.
Editors Note: According to an article written by Town Historian Bob Hoeltzel, the cinder block building near the entrance to the hospital was built by Stuart Hallagan and Karl Herman to house their airplanes.
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