DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Meacham Field has to say — and friend, this one's got some history worth slowing down for. It started with a vote. On July 3, 1925, the Fort Worth city council approved a lease on one hundred acres of property on Decatur Road.
That would be the site of the city's new municipal airport — built to replace the first one, which had been out at Barron Field, a World War I-era flying training field near Everman. Fort Worth was movin' up in the world. Now, 1925 was a consequential year for more reasons than one.
Congress passed the Air Mail Act — known as the Kelly Act — and that changed everything. Airlines started flying the mail over Contract Air Mail routes, CAM routes they called them. And here's where Fort Worth held a card worth playing: the city was headquarters of the eleventh district of the U.S.
Post Office Railway Mail Service. That made it an ideal place to tie together ground distribution and air distribution in one tidy knot. So on May 12, 1926, National Air Transport Company — you may know them better as United Airlines eventually — flew the field's very first air mail flight.
Destination: Chicago. Just like that, Fort Worth was connected to the sky. The airport got its name on July 16, 1927, when it was rechristened Meacham Field, in honor of former Mayor H.
C. Meacham. The airlines took notice.
Passenger service started rolling in on those same CAM routes, and by 1931, the airport had grown from that original hundred acres all the way out to two hundred and eighty. Then came the crown jewel. On April 4, 1937, Meacham Field dedicated a brand new Art Moderne Terminal and control tower.
And this wasn't just any terminal — it was the first air-conditioned passenger terminal in the United States. Let that land for a second. Fort Worth, Texas.
First in the country. In 1937. The future had arrived, and it was cool inside.
World War II came calling soon enough. In April of 1943, American Airlines was awarded a contract right there at Meacham Field to train U.S. Navy pilots on the Douglas R4D — the DC-3 transport.
Then in May of that same year, the Navy commissioned the airport as a naval auxiliary air facility. They stood up a ferry service unit to coordinate cross-country deliveries of fighter planes and torpedo bombers to the Pacific, and seaplane ferrying services out of nearby Lake Worth. Meacham Field wasn't just movin' mail anymore — it was movin' the war.
When Fort Worth International Airport opened in April of 1953, the commercial airline operations picked up and moved there. Some places might've faded after losing the big carriers. Not Meacham.
It developed into one of the world's leading airports for general and corporate aviation, flight training, and aircraft repair. A hundred acres on Decatur Road. That's where it all began.
And what it became is still right there for you to see.
What the marker says
On July 3, 1925, the Fort Worth city council approved a lease on 100 acres of property on Decatur Road for the city’s new municipal airport. It was built to replace the city’s first municipal airport at Barron Field, a World War I-era flying training field near Everman. After passage of the Air Mail Act (Kelly Act) in 1925, airlines began flying the mail over Contract Air Mail (CAM) routes. As headquarters of the 11th district of the U.S. Post Office Railway Mail Service, Fort Worth offered an ideal location to tie together ground and air distribution. On May 12, 1926, National Air Transport Co. (later United Airlines) flew the field’s first air mail flight to Chicago. On July 16, 1927, the airport’s name changed to Meacham Field, in honor of former Mayor H. C. Meacham. Soon several airlines began to offer passenger service on the CAM routes. By 1931, the airport had expanded to 280 acres. On April 4, 1937, Meacham Field’s new Art Moderne Terminal (the first air-conditioned passenger terminal in the U.S.) and control tower were dedicated. During World War II, in April 1943, American Airlines was awarded a contract to train U. S. Navy pilots at the airport on the Douglas R4D (DC-3) transport. In May 1943, the navy commissioned the airport as a naval auxiliary air facility and established a ferry service unit to coordinate cross-country fighter and torpedo bomber deliveries to the pacific and seaplane ferrying services at nearby Lake Worth. When Fort Worth International Airport opened in April 1953, commercial airline operations moved there. Afterward, Meacham Field Developed into one of the world's leading airports for general and corporate aviation, flight training and aircraft repair.