1940 Air Terminal Museum

Written By: Gail Clifford | Published By: Weekend Notes |  Oct. 25, 2021

https://www.weekendnotes.com/1940-air-terminal-museum-houston/

When the south Houston, Texas airport, now known as William P. Hobby, first opened in 1927 as W. T. Carter Field, it was a privately owned general aviation airport. One of the first things I learned at this museum is that general aviation includes all aviation other than military or scheduled airlines. They tell me that there are 5,500 public use airports in the US but only 500 are served by scheduled airlines.

We took advantage of our tour with volunteer Jim Schachtschneider a retired commercial real estate appraiser who has always loved aviation and architecture, to learn the story behind the building.

“We’re volunteers,” Jim says, “just because we have an interest in general aviation. What we try to do is let it live like in the 1940s.“

Origins:

Designed by architect Joseph Finger (also famous for the Texas State Hotel and Houston City Hall), the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal is now listed by the United States Department of the Interior on the National Register of Historic Places. But that wasn’t always a sure thing.

The airport may have first gained national recognition in July 1938 when Howard Hughes set a new speed record flying around the world and celebrated in his hometown of Houston. The City announced Houston Municipal Airport’s renaming as Howard Hughes Municipal Airport. Sadly, for Mr. Hughes, this only lasted 3 months when it was learned that the airport would be disqualified for Federal grant money if it is named after a living person. It resumed its name as Houston Municipal Airport.

Opening Day:
But in 1940, more excitement was in the works as Houston’s two airlines, Eastern and Braniff monetized the DC-3, the first airplane to allow its owners to make a profit flying passengers. The “grand art modern air terminal,” created by Joseph Finger, welcomed the wealthy and powerful who could afford to travel by this very exclusive means of transportation.

On opening day, September 28, 1940, seen in this aerial photograph (front and back) are the dedication of the new terminal and hangar. The ceremony featured an Eastern Airlines DC-3 and Braniff Airways DC-3 and DC-2, in addition to private and corporate aircraft. Raffles were held with a lucky few winning a chance to take a local flight.

“This was the air terminal for 15 years – only 15 years,” Jim tells us, “from 1940 to 1955. And when it first opened, you look at this building, it’s not a big building, but it was actually big enough for the city of Houston.”

Jim continues, “Keep in mind, Houston was a much smaller city, and things were smaller, most people didn’t fly because it cost 10x what it costs to fly today so when it first opened, it was big enough for the city of Houston.“

Jim points to the left.

“That was the Braniff counter over there (in front) and the Eastern counter over there.” (closest to tarmac in the back / to the right).

“So, we have about 6-7 departures a day. Planes were about 10 to 35 passengers. So you can see from this scale that was about right.“

He walks us over to a display case, and points to a photo.