Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Maryland, Columbia area
© 2002, © 2007 by Paul Freeman. Revised 6/23/07.
Columbia Airfield (revised 6/23/07) - (Original) Fort Meade Aux AAF - Turf Valley Airfield (revised 6/23/07)
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Columbia Airfield, Columbia, MD
39.24 North / 76.84 West (Southwest of Baltimore, MD)
"Landing Strip", as depicted on the 1949 USGS topo map.
Photo of the airfield has not been located.
Not much is known about this small former airfield,
including its actual name, its date of construction, or its date of abandonment.
The only depiction of this airfield which has been located was on the 1949 USGS topo map.
It depicted a single 1,600' runway, labeled simply as "Landing Strip".
No airfield at this location was depicted on Sectional charts from 1940-65
(but this airfield may simply have been overlooked, as a relatively minor private airfield).
Joe Zamoyta reported, “I’ve discovered guys who know all about it & have landed there.
The field was private & owned by Al Basler, who now owns Hays Field Airport, also in Columbia.
The story goes he outfoxed Rouse [James Rouse, developer of Columbia], who tried to steal his land.”
By the 1960s, the entire area around this former airfield was developed into the City of Columbia,
a large planned community.
The site of the former airfield became the Beaverbrook residential development.
The 1993 USGS aerial photo showed that the site of the former Columbia Airfield had been densely filled with suburban housing,
and not a trace appeared to remain of the former airfield.
As seen in the 2002 USGS aerial photo, not a trace appears to remain of the former airfield.
The site of the Columbia Airfield is located east of intersection of Beaverbrook Road & Lynngate Road.
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Turf Valley Airfield, Ellicott City,MD
39.3 North / 76.89 West (West of Baltimore, MD)
Turf Valley Airfield, as depicted on the February 1962 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Photo of the airport while open has not been located.
Most suburban golfers who play on the course of the Turf Valley County Club
are probably unaware that the club used to have its own private airfield for the use of members.
The Turf Valley Airfield was apparently built at some point between 1961-62,
as it was not depicted on the 1961 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
The earliest depiction of the airfield which has been located
was on the February 1962 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),
which described Turf Valley Airfield as a 2,000' unpaved runway.
Joe Zamoyta recalled, “My logbooks indicate that I flew from Turf Valley Airport from 6/15/63 to 12/7/63.
I received my twin instruction in my Piper Apache N1163P there from Ed Roggero,
who was chief instructor there for Fran Dane, who operated the field for Sam Pistorio,
a local contractor who built what was then Turf Valley Golf Course.
Fran & Ed had come over from Mrs. McNemar’s United Flying Service,
who operated Frederick Municipal Airport after Rutherford Field closed.
Turf Valley field was rough, rough, rough.
It was composed of 3 parallel levels. On top was the trailer office.
The runway was below that & there was a parallel taxiway farther down the hillside.”
The 1963 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
described Turf Valley Airfield as having a single 1,950' runway (turf, of course!).
Turf Valley Airfield, as depicted on the 1964 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
The 1965 Washington Local Visual Navigation Chart depicted Turf Valley
as having a 1,900' unpaved runway.
Pilot John Gruver moved to Turf Valley in 1965.
He recalled, "The runway was over the hill about a half mile due west of the clubhouse,
where it flattens out between the barns.
There is a maintenance shack along were it was that is still there.
It ran northeast/southwest.
I remember planes landing there as a child."
The last chart depiction the Turf Valley Airfield which has been located
was on the 1967 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
According to John Gruver, "The last plane I remember [at Turf Valley] was around 1969."
Joe Zamoyta recalled, “[Fran] Dane & [Sam] Pistorio didn’t get along very well
so the field closed and eventually became part of the golf course.”
Turf Valley Airfield was apparently closed by 1970,
as it was no longer depicted at all on the 1970 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Clifford).
In this circa 2001 aerial photo, although the golf course now surrounds the site of the former airfield,
what appears to be the outline of the northeast/southwest runway is still visible in the center of the golf course.
The site of the Turf Valley Airfield is located northwest of the intersection of Route 40 & Turf Valley Road.
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(Original) Fort Meade Auxiliary Army Airfield, Fort Meade, MD
39.11 North / 76.74 West (South of Baltimore, MD)
The original Fort Meade airfield, as depicted on the 1935 Washington Sectional Chart.
Photo of the airport while open has not been located.
The original airfield on the property of Fort Meade is not in the same location as the present-day Tipton Field.
The original Fort Meade airfield was located in the central portion of the base,
two miles northeast of where Tipton AAF would eventually be built.
The date of construction of the original Fort Meade airfield is unknown.
According to the fantastic book "Maryland Aloft" by Preston, Lanman, and Breilhan,
"An emergency landing field was reported to exist there as early as 1920,
and an auxiliary landing field was listed in a 1930 publication."
The earliest depiction of the Fort Meade field which has been located
was on the 1935 Washington Sectional Chart.
The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo)
described Fort Meade AAF as having a total of three runways,
including a 1,800' northwest/southeast asphalt runway.
The Fort Meade airfield may have been temporarily closed during the early WW2 years,
as it was not depicted at all on the 1942 Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer)
described Fort Meade AAF as having a 2,000' hard-surfaced runway.
"Fort Meade (Army)", as depicted on the 1947 Washington Sectional Chart.
USGS topo map 1947.
The most detailed depiction of the original Fort Meade Airfield
which has been located is the 1947 USGS topo map,
which depicted the field as a single 1,800' runway, oriented northwest/southeast,
labeled simply "Landing Strip".
The 7/15/1949 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
and the 1955 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
described "Fort Meade (Army)" as having a 1,900' hard-surface runway.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft",
"As described in a historical report by Clayton Davis,
Fort Meade Army Airfield in 1957 was crossed by both MacArthur Boulevard & Mapes Road.
Movable barriers were raised & lowered by the control tower
to prevent surface traffic from interfering with air operations.
Davis noted that the airfield was used by civilian as well as military aircraft."
The runway at Fort Meade may have been lengthened somewhat at some point between 1955-60,
as the Aerodromes table on the 1960 Washington Sectional chart
listed "Meade AAF" at the location as having a single 2,485' bituminous runway.
The location of the original airfield, within the center portion of the base,
hemmed in by roads & buildings on all sides,
was apparently the reason for its eventual replacement.
The original Fort Meade airfield was replaced in 1961 by Tipton AAF,
built over the site of a landfill two miles to the southwest,
in an area on the outskirts of the base which offered much more room.
The site of the original Fort Meade airfield was labeled "Abandoned Airport"
on the 1961 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
Stephen Cerutti reported that the site of the original Fort Meade airfield
was covered by the PX/Theatre/Bowling Alley/Commissary complex,
which "were built in the early/mid 1970's."
This circa 2001 aerial photo shows the PX/Theatre/Bowling Alley/Commissary complex which occupies the site,
with not a trace remaining of the former airfield.
The site of the former airfield is bounded by Reece Road, Mapes Road on the south,
Ross Street on the east, and MacArthur Road on the west.
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