Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: San Francisco area

California - San Francisco area

Bay Meadows Airport (revised 5/9/08) - Crissy AAF (revised 6/8/08)

Marina Airfield (revised 10/17/07) - Treasure Island NAAF (revised 3/23/07)

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Bay Meadows Airport, San Mateo, CA

37.55 North / 122.3 West (South of San Francisco, CA)

A 1943 aerial view of Bay Meadows from the Alexandria Digital Library @ UC Santa Barbara (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling)

appeared to show some buildings & a grass landing area to the northwest of the racetrack.

This property may have had aeronautical roots going back to 1911.

Jim Douglass recalled, “My dad used to tell me that the property

was the site of Northern California's first powered airplane flight in 1911,

and that in 1931 they had a dedication airshow there

at which the German ace Ernst Udet set a record for the number of successive loops performed at one time.”

However, no airfield at this location was depicted on the 1933 San Francisco Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

The Bay Meadows Race Track itself opened in 1934.

The date of construction of the adjacent airfield has not been determined.

A 1943 aerial view of Bay Meadows from the Alexandria Digital Library @ UC Santa Barbara (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling)

appeared to show some buildings & a grass landing area to the northwest of the racetrack.

A history of the race track mentions that "the first horse transported by air landed at Bay Meadows.

That took place in 1945 when El Lobo was flown from Los Angeles by his owner,

country & western entertainer Stuart Hamblem, to contest the Burlingame Handicap.

After landing safely on an airstrip adjacent to Bay Meadows,

El Lobo completed the history-making journey by winning the race."

An artist's concept looking southwest at Bay Meadows Airport

from the cover of a July 1945 brochure (courtesy of Aaron Becker).

It depicted the field as having 2 parallel runways, oriented northwest/southeast,

with a total of 16 (!) hangars lining ramps on the north & south sides of the runways.

This extensive layout of hangars was apparently a somewhat grandiose plan,

which was never completely realized.

The airport engineer was listed as Frederick Dupuy,

and the field's architects were listed as Douglas Stone & Lou Mulloy.

An obituary in the San Francisco Examiner mentioned Bay Meadows Airport

as the departure point of a 1946 flight which ended in a fatal crash.

A 1946 aerial view of the Bay Meadows Airport depict the field as having 2 unpaved runways,

with 2 hangars on the southwest side of the field.

A closeup from the 1946 aerial view showed 19 single-engine aircraft

parked around a hangar on the southwest side of the Bay Meadows Airport.

The earliest chart depiction of Bay Meadows Airport which has been located

was on the 1948 USAF Urban Area Chart.

The 1949 San Francisco Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

depicted "Bay Meadow" Airport as having a 2,700' unpaved runway.

The 1949 USGS topo map depicted "Bay Meadows Airport"

as having a total of three 2,300' runways or taxiways adjacent to the northwest side of the race track.

Two buildings or hangars were depicted on the southwest side of the airfield.

Jim Douglass recalled, “I lived about 3/4 of a mile from the Bay Meadows airport from 1958-72.

My father had kept a Cessna 140 there until it closed sometime around 1954.

According to him, the field had been privately owned.

When the city first began talking about closing it,

the owner did a study which showed that the airport brought in several million dollars a year to the city coffers

and offered not only to give it to the city if they'd keep it open

but to expand the facilities to where it would support scheduled DC-3 service.

This was, of course, in the days of regulated air carriers & 'feeder' lines which landed every 30 or 40 miles.

Needless to say, the city declined & the field was closed.”

Jim continued, “When we lived there, the property housed the county fairgrounds.

As a kid, I attended several county fairs there,

and at least 4 (maybe as many as 6) large hangars still existed & were used as display halls.

From El Camino Real & 25^th Avenue you could still make out the name of the airport

in faded paint on the roof of one of the hangars (I only think it said 'Bay Meadows Airport').”

Bay Meadows Airport was no longer depicted at all

by the time of the 1955 San Francisco Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).

A 1956 aerial view showed that houses had been built over the northern portion of the former airport.

The smaller hangar had been removed at some point between 1946-56,

but the larger hangar remained standing.

The 1956 USGS topo map depicted the southern portion of the former airport

as being the location of the Fiesta Gardens School & the Fiesta Grounds (County Fairgrounds).

A 1968 aerial view showed one hangar still remained standing.

A 1980 aerial view showed that the last hangar had been removed at some point between 1968-80,

with a larger building having been built in its place.

The 1993 USGS aerial photo of the site showed that it had been extensively redeveloped,

and not a trace appeared to remain of the former airport.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler, looking south-southwest at the Fiesta Gardens Elementary School,

which occupies the northeast corner of the site of the Bay Meadows Airfield.

Tim Tyler visited the site of the former Bay Meadows Airfield in 2003,

and reported that "The area is now mostly residential, with a few stores,

some small factory/warehouse type buildings, and a San Mateo - Foster City School District center."

As seen in the February 2004 USGS aerial photo,

not a trace appeared to remain of the former airport.

The site of Bay Meadows Airport is located southwest of the intersection of the 101 Freeway & Route 92.

Thanks to Chris Kennedy for pointing out this airfield.

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Treasure Island Naval Auxiliary Air Facility, San Francisco, CA

37.82 North / 122.37 West (Northeast of Downtown San Francisco, CA)

The 1933 San Francisco Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

depicted an unlabeled seaplane base on Treasure Island.

The original date of the establishment of a seaplane base on Treasure Island has not been determined.

The earliest depiction which has been located of a a seaplane base on Treasure Island

was on the 1933 San Francisco Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),

but it did not label the facility with any name.

In 1935, San Francisco decided that it should hold a exposition to celebrate

the engineering of the Golden Gate Bridge & the San Francisco & Oakland Bay Bridge,

as well as to celebrate the ascendancy of California & San Francisco

as an economic, political & cultural force in the increasingly important Pacific region.

This would eventually become the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition.

The site would also become San Francisco's new municipal airport following the Exposition.

Among six sites, a location on the shoals north of Yerba Buena Island was ultimately chosen

because it was accessible from all parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Thus, Treasure Island was born.

The construction of Treasure Island began in 1936 & was completed in 1939.

To build the 403 acre island, 29 million cubic yards of sand & gravel were

transported to or dredged from the Bay & the Sacramento River delta.

The name "Treasure Island" refers to the gold-laden fill dirt that washed down from the Sierras into the Bay,

from which fill was dredged to create the island.

Approximately 259 thousand tons of rock were used to create a rock wall to contain the island.

Buildings & structures for the Golden Gate International Exposition

were going up even before the Bay fill dried.

The exposition operated from 1939-1940.

A 1939 photo of a Martin M-130 flying boat at Treasure Island (from the San Francisco Library via Rex Ricks).

A 1939-40 photo by Bill Larkins of a Sikorsky S-38 flying boat at Treasure Island.

Bill recalled, “Paul Mantz had an active flight service at Treasure Island in 1939-40 on the East side of the Island.

They sold sight seeing flights for the people at the Golden Gate International Exposition.

They would alternate parking the S-38 & S-39 on” the parking structure.

A 1940 photo of a Boeing 314 flying boat in front of one of Treasure Island's hangars,

with the Tower of the Sun in the background.

The airfield facilities at the island included 2 seaplane hangars & a seaplane ramp on the south end,

and a 3,300' landplane runway on the north end.

Pan Am moved to Treasure Island from Alameda in 1939.

Their operations were a part of the Exposition,

featuring a spectator's gallery to view their aircraft maintenance work.

Following the nation's entry into WW2,

The Navy placed Pan Am under contract in 1942, and commandeered its aircraft.

Treasure Island was commissioned as a Naval Auxiliary Air Facility.

Treasure Island was used by ZP-32 from Moffett Field as a forward base

to operate blimps on antisubmarine patrols of approaches to San Francisco Bay.

A 1942 aerial view looking south at Treasure Island (National Archives photo),

showing the seaplane hangars at the far end,

and the landplane runway on the near end, with a blimp on the right side of the airfield.

Pan Am seaplane operations from Treasure Island during the war included

Martin M-130 China Clippers, Boeing 314s, and Navy supplied PB2Y-3R Coronados.

The M-130s operated a shuttle service between Treasure Island & Honolulu.

As ship traffic became heavier in the Bay,

regular Pan Am flight operations were moved to Mills Field (San Francisco International Airport today) in 1944.

Treasure Island remained in use by Pan Am for seaplane overhaul.

The August 1944 Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling)

depicted both a seaplane facility as well as an airfield on Treasure Island.

Naval construction eventually took over all of the island.

The primary mission of the Navy facility became the processing of personnel heading to & from the Pacific.

At its peak, 12,000 people per day passed through the station.

After the war the island housed various activities supporting Naval & Marine forces in the bay area.

A 1946 aerial view showed that buildings had covered the site of the former runway on the north side of the island.

The 1949 USGS topo map did not depict any airfield facilities on the island.

Al Magary reported, “Great-looking Building 1 (Administration Building) at Treasure Island

was used as Berlin's Tempelhof airport in the third Spielberg-Lucas Indiana Jones adventure, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade (1989).

Sean Connery & Harrison Ford are seen wheeling along the curved drive in a motorcycle with sidecar.”

In 1993 the Department of Defense decided to close the Naval Station & return it to civilian use.

The island was to be returned to the City's stewardship

to provide recreation, open space, economic development, and other publicly oriented uses.

According to Tim Tyler, the large hangars built to be used as San Francisco's airport

have been used in recent years for television & movie filming.

"One had been used to house the 'Battlebots' TV program

and also as a sound-stage & offices for the 'Nash Bridges' TV show."

In 2002 one of the Treasure Island hangars was used to film the movie 'The Hulk';

"other parts of Treasure Island were also depicted in the movie as being the 'Joint Tactical Force West' base."

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of Treasure Island's Building 1 & hangars, as viewed from the mainland.

Tim Tyler visited Treasure Island in 2003.

His report: "I've explored Treasure Island quite a bit, via car, foot, and best of all, bicycle.

As best as I can tell, there aren't any obvious remains of the NAAF area.

The Navy turned that section of Treasure Island into family housing units, the base brig,

some Training School facilities, an elementary school, and I think also the island's wastewater treatment plant."

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of Treasure Island's Building 1.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of the control tower which remains atop Building 1.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of a beautiful WPA-style mural which remains in the lobby of Building 1.

"Of course, there is plenty of evidence remaining of the original plan to use the island as San Francisco's main airport.

Building 1 was to be the main airport terminal building,

and is right next to the little cove that the seaplanes used.

The seaplane ramps are long gone.

Building 1 was Naval Station Treasure Island's administrative & operational headquarters.

Admiral Nimitz's command center during WW2 was a series of hardened rooms in the basement of Building 1.

Several of these basement rooms were used as SCIFs (Secure, Compartmentalized Information Facilities)

for HQ 12th Naval District operations until the base closed in the late 1990s."

"Some of the family housing is now in use as apartments ('Treasure Island Villages'),

while other family housing sections are closed off & boarded up.

Many other buildings atop the former NAAF area are either awaiting the Navy to handle any environmental concerns (asbestos)

before being turned over one at a time to the City & County of San Francisco,

and other buildings already turned over to SF are simply awaiting redevelopment."

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of the helipad which remains in front of Treasure Island's Hangar 3.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of the interior of one of Treasure Island's hangars.

"The large hangars built to be used as San Francisco's airport are mostly empty now."

In the February 2004 USGS aerial photo, no trace remained of the runway on the north end of the island,

but the 2 Pan Am seaplane hangars remained standing on the south end.

An October 2004 news story (courtesy of Tim Tyler) talked about how director Chris Columbus

was using one of Treasure Island's former hangars to film the movie 'Rent'.

A circa 2005 aerial photo looking north at Treasure Island's Building 1.

A circa 2005 aerial photo looking north at several of Treasure Island's hangars.

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Crissy Army Airfield (CSY), San Francisco, CA

37.8 North / 122.46 West (Southeast of the Golden Gate Bridge)

A circa 1921 aerial view looking southeast at Crissy Field (National Archives photo).

The large building on the middle right was the enlisted men's barracks

and the administrative headquarters lies directly to the west.

The large hangars at the west end housed seaplanes.

The line of houses in the foreground were the pilots quarters.

Biplanes lined up on Crissy Field in the 1920s.

This former military airfield was located on the grounds of the Presidio in downtown San Francisco,

adjacent to the shore of the San Francisco Bay & just SE of the Golden Gate Bridge.

When the the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition closed,

a board of army officers recommended the site for an Air Coast Defense Station -

an airfield whose mission would be to cooperate with the artillery defenses of San Francisco Bay.

From their lofty vantage point, they would scout for the approach of an enemy,

observe & correct the fire of our big guns on the coastal bluffs, and pass messages to troops in the field.

The permanent air base was built in 1921 under the supervision of "Hap" Arnold,

a young major destined to lead the largest air force the world has ever known during WW2.

The original facilities consisted of a kidney-shaped field on which the outline of the former racetrack was still visible.

In an era of open-cockpit, fabric-covered biplanes, an airfield was just that:

a wide expanse planted in grass to soften the landing & to slow the plane after touchdown (no brakes in those days!).

Against the bluffs of the Presidio uplands,

the field's southern edge was lined with hangars for seaplanes & landplanes, workshops, and a garage.

Farther east was a cluster that included an administration building, enlisted barracks, flagstaff,

and a guardhouse built in attractive Mission Revival style.

On top of the bluff, where the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge would eventually be built,

were bachelor officers' quarters & a row of small homes for married officers.

Later that year, no less an authority than Marshal Ferdinand Foch,

commander of the victorious Allied armies in WW1,

inspected the new installation & pronounced it "the last word in airfields."

Between 1921 & 1936, aerial operations at Crissy Field

consisted primarily of observation of artillery fire for the Coast Defenses of San Francisco;

aerial photography; liaison flights for headquarters personnel;

special civilian cooperation missions, such as search-and-rescue & publicity flights;

and support for the U.S. Air Mail Service.

The first Western aerial forest fire patrols were undertaken by Crissy Field pilots,

who also checked for diseased trees, identified archaeological sites in remote southwestern deserts,

and participated in the dedication of Lassen National Park from the cockpits of their flying machines.

It was, however, a series of record-breaking long-distance flights during the Roaring Twenties

that put Crissy Field securely in the record books of aviation history

and contributed to the growth of the modern aviation industry.

In 1924, the first dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight ended in triumph at Crissy Field.

In doing so, one of the "great goals of the Air Service",

to "reduce the time for deploying army aircraft from one part of the country to another",

had taken a giant practical step forward.

Later that same year, the army's Round-the-World Race stopped at Crissy Field,

with Lieutenant Lowell Smith of Crissy Field leading the flyers upon their return.

This was "the most important pioneering flight of the time in terms of difficulty & international prestige."

In 1925, 2 navy seaplanes took off from Crissy Field in the first attempt to fly from the mainland to Hawaii.

Expected to last twenty-six hours, the trip took twelve days

and was only partially completed by one plane, whose flyers had to be rescued at sea.

Two years later, they tried again.

Army lieutenants Lester Maitland & Albert Hegenberger readied their big Fokker 3-engine plane,

the Bird of Paradise, at Crissy Field & flew non-stop to the islands.

A 1925 view looking east along Crissy Field (from the San Francisco Library via Rex Ricks).

An undated photo of an Army blimp (specific model unknown) at Crissy Field (from the San Francisco Library via Rex Ricks).

The Standard Oil Company of California's 1927 "Airplane Landing Fields of the Pacific Coast" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

described Crissy Field as a "Permanent" airfield, with an east/west runway measuring 1 mile x 750'.

The field was said to have several hangars on the extreme west end of the field & the south edge of the field.

The field was said to be "available only as an emergency field for other than Government planes."

The 1929 "Rand McNally Standard Map of CA With Air Trails" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

described Crissy Field as measuring 3,050' x 400'.

Crissy Field was depicted as a military airfield on the 1933 San Francisco Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

A 1934 aerial view looking northwest at the grass runway of Crissy Field.

By 1936, Crissy Field was no longer being used as a 1^st-line air base.

Wind & fog had always made for difficult flying conditions;

the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge made operating aircraft from Crissy Field even more challenging;

and its location near the ocean, though convenient to coast artillery batteries,

also made it vulnerable to enemy bombardment by sea.

There was little room for expansion,

and the activation of Hamilton Field in Marin County offered an up-to date alternative location for the air corps.

Crissy Field's observation & pursuit squadrons were transferred to Hamilton Field.

The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo)

described Crissy as consisting of a 5,000' x 400' sandy loam field, with a 2,000' landing mat.

A hangar was described as having "Crissy Field" painted on the roof,

and the remarks included, "Field temporarily closed due to construction."

After the Air Corps left Crissy Field,

the headquarters of the 30^th U.S. Infantry Regiment moved into the administration building

and the landing field was routinely used as an assembly area for troop mobilization.

With the coming of WW2, temporary wooden barracks sprang up at both ends of the airfield,

and more of the landing field was paved.

The former air mail hangar became barracks & classrooms

for the army's top-secret Military Intelligence Service Language School.

No airfield at all was depicted at Crissy Field on the December 1941 San Francisco Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

nor on the August 1944 Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling).

A 1946 aerial photo showed Crissy Field to have an unpaved runway,

but with some sort of paved surface on the south side that curved over the western portion of the runway.

USGS topo map 1947.

A 1956 aerial view showed that Crissy Field had gained a paved runway at some point between 1946-56.

A total of 4 single-engine aircraft were visible parked on the southwest side of the field.

In the years after WW2, the 6^th Army Flight Detachment operated light airplanes & helicopters

from the paved runway that replaced the grass landing field.

By this time, Crissy Field traffic consisted primarily of liaison flights,

and medevac flights bringing soldiers wounded in Vietnam from Travis Air Force Base to Letterman Hospital.

Tim McCoy recalled, "I was in the Civil Air Patrol as a Cadet in the 1950s.

The headquarters for the California Wing of the CAP was at Crissy Field, and they flew out of there also.

I got a ride in an L-5 out of there.

They had a couple of L-17s, L-5s, and at least one L-16; as well as a Beaver & 310."

The 1960 Jeppesen Airway Manual (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

depicted Crissy Field as having a single 2,610' paved Runway 6/24,

along with a ramp with 2 small buildings on the east side of the field.

Crissy Field was depicted as an active airfield on the 1967 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).

The Aerodromes table on the reverse side of the chart described Crissy Field

as having a single 2,160' asphalt Runway 6/24.

CW-4 Robert Cordua recalled, "Little is known about the 'hot shot pilots'

that flew in & out of Crissy in twin-engine Beechcraft aircraft.

We flew SID [Standard Instrument Departures] during instrument conditions

and if you could see the top of the Palace of Fine Arts you could make a instrument approach to Navy Alameda

and a missed approach direct to Crissy.

Many General Officers sat tight in their seats.

I flew out of Crissy during 1967-1968 & I enjoyed the challenge.

If there was a incoming flight from another Army station

we would take bets on how many passes it would take them to get on the ground.

It was the bridge & the hill that looked as if you were not going to make it.

If you knew what you were doing it was a piece of cake.

I think that experience made me the pilot I am today."

A 1968 photo of a De Havilland U-1 Otter at Crissy Field (courtesy of Rex Ricks).

A beautiful 1970 photo by Bill Larkins of Harrah's Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor taking off from Crissy Field.

Chuck Ross recalled, "I flew in & out of Crissy several times in the early 1970's.

My ex-boss, the late Bill Paynter (who owned Union Flights Incorporated out of Sacramento)

told me that he flew governor Ronald Reagan into Crissy in Citation jet N31ST.

I would not have wanted to do that! The runway seemed tight, even in the Beaver."

Crissy Field was finally closed to fixed-wing aircraft in 1974,

although some helicopter operations continued after that point.

At its closure, the airfield consisted of a single East/West 2,500' paved runway.

A 1983 Air Force aerial view looking southeast at Crissy's paved runway (courtesy of Rex Ricks).

Crissy Field was no longer depicted at all on the 1987 CA Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of John Voss).

The entire Presidio base was closed by the Army

& turned over to the National Park Service in the 1980s.

The 1993 USGS aerial view showed the paved runway as well as a paved helipad on the northwest side of the runway.

Aerial view (circa 1990s), taken before the paved runway was removed.

Recent views of the seaplane hangar & the landplane hangar.

A bill was proposed in the Senate in 1996 to break up the runway of Crissy Field

& restore the area to a wetland.

Other plans were proposed to "restore the historic airfield".

The 1998 USGS topo map still depicted the paved runway at Crissy Field.

Stuart Till reported, "Air ambulance helicopters have been allowed to land [at Crissy Field] until at least 1998,

as that was the last time I landed there.

When I landed there the airfield was managed by the U.S. National Park Service,

as it is park of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

We had to call in advance, and a park service fire engine would stand by there for us.

Crissy would provide access to nearby specialized hospitals."

Unfortunately Crissy Field's historic paved runway was completely removed at some point between 1998-2003.

A 2003 aerial view showed a grass field over the west end of the former runway,

while the east end had been flooded, to form a “tidal marsh”.

Al Magary reported, “Some of the filming for the Eddie Murphy movie Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) were in & around Crissy Field”.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler looking across the former Crissy Field runway, at the fog enveloping the Golden Gate Bridge.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of one of 3 small aircraft munitions storage buildings, apparently constructed in the 1930s.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of "Building 933, the former Crissy Field Maintenance Shop with Dope & Boiler Houses."

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of Stillwell Hall - once the barracks for soldiers assigned to Crissy Field, now empty.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of one of the old VHF & UHF aircraft band antennas

that Crissy Field used to talk with inbound/outbound aircraft, starting in the 1960s.

A 2003 photo by Tim Tyler of the Park Service map of Crissy Field.

Tim Tyler visited Crissy Field in 2003, and reported that "The part that's still grass comprises the dimensions

of what was considered to be the size of the field in it's 'historic' time period - up until the early 1930s.

In later years, the length was expanded & it was paved.

The 'wetlands' area covers the runway length added after the 1930s.

Also, there is now a gradual slope to the grassy area (it was flat when an active airfield),

due to them having excess dirt fill after creating the wetlands area.

The wetlands area isn't working out as planned -

it's too small & not functioning as a true wetland could/would."

The February 2004 USGS aerial view showed the significantly reconfigured configuration of the site of Crissy Field -

in which the paved runway had been completely removed, and replaced with a grass field on the western half,

and the eastern half of the former runway had been flooded, creating a 'tidal marsh'.

It is ironic how the Park Service has deemed the "Historic Airfield"

to be a grass field which comprises only about half the area of the later paved-runway airfield.

What makes the grass airfield which operated from the 1920s to the 1950s more "historic"

than the paved-runway airfield which operated from the 1950s to the 1990s???

A September 2006 aerial view by Ian Carisi looking southeast at the restored grass airfield area on the west side of Crissy Field,

with original buildings along the right side.

The original location of the paved runway on the east side of Crissy Field has been flooded (top of the picture).