Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Northeastern Maryland
© 2002, © 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 7/22/08.
Aberdeen Airpark (revised 7/22/08) - Original Cecil County Airpark (revised 11/10/07) - (Original) Phillips AAF (revised 6/22/05)
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Aberdeen Airpark, Aberdeen, MD
39.5 North / 76.18 West (Northeast of Baltimore, MD)
Aberdeen Airpark, as depicted on the November 1947 Washington Sectional Chart.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft" by Preston, Lanman, and Breilhan,
Aberdeen Airpark opened in about 1946.
It was owned by Merrill Bowden,
and was said to comprise of a 100-acre property between Route 40 on the south & a railway line on the north.
It offered flight instruction, charter, fuel, and minor repairs.
Its 2 runways were 2,100' & 1,800' long.
Aberdeen Airpark was not yet depicted on the April 1947 Washington Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).
The earliest depiction of Aberdeen Airpark which has been located
was on the November 1947 Washington Sectional Chart.
It depicted Aberdeen as having a 2,400' unpaved runway.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft", by 1948, Aberdeen's operator was Thomas Hill,
an aeronautical engineer who also worked for Baltimore's Glen L. Martin Aircraft Company,
and later for the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground.
The 1950 MD Airport Directory (courtesy of Stephen Mahaley)
depicted Aberdeen Airpark as having 2 turf runways: 2,400' east-southeast/west-northwest & 2,000' west-southwest/east-northeast.
Several small hangars & buildings were depicted on the northwest side of the field.
The 1951 USGS topo map depicted Aberdeen Airpark as having 2 unpaved runways.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft",
a 1953 publication described Aberdeen Airpark as the center of aviation in the county,
and the headquarters of the Albatross Flying Club.
An advertisement for Aberdeen Airpark from a 1953 directory (courtesy of Mike Wotovitch).
A circa 1950s aerial view looking northeast at Aberdeen Airpark (courtesy of Mike Wotovitch)
depicted the field as having 2 grass runways.
According to Mike Wotovitch, “It was a very active field in the 1950s
and holds a special spot in my life since I flew my first solo & did much of my flying from there.”
A circa 1950s aerial view looking east at Aberdeen Airpark (courtesy of Mike Wotovitch)
showed a total of 11 single-engine aircraft parked on the field.
By 1960, the MD Airport Directory showed that only the shorter of Aberdeen's 2 runways remained in operation
(the west-southwest/east-northeast strip).
The March 1964 Washington Sectional Chart depicted Aberdeen as having a 2,000' unpaved runway.
The last aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of the Aberdeen Airpark
was on the March 1977 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It depicted Aberdeen as having a 2,000' unpaved runway.
The last reference which has been located of Aberdeen being an active airfield
was its listing in the 1979 AOPA Airport Directory (according to the book "Maryland Aloft").
Aberdeen Airpark was closed at some point in 1979,
and the property was developed into housing in the same year.
By the time of the 1982 USGS topo map, the Aberdeen Airpark was no longer depicted at all.
The 1994 USGS aerial photo showed the site of the former Aberdeen Airpark completely developed with housing,
with not a trace recognizable of the former airport.
The site of Aberdeen Airpark is located at the intersection of Edmund Street & Cornwall Street.
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Original Cecil County Airpark (2N0), Elkton, MD
39.65 North / 75.8 West (Southwest of Wilmington, DE)
Lovett Field, as depicted on the Delaware side of the state line
on the 1942 Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
This former small general aviation airport was originally named Lovett Airport,
in reference to the owner, Mr. Lovett.
It was apparently built at some point between 1940-42,
as it was not depicted on the 1940 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
The earliest depiction of the field which has been located
was on the 1942 Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
This airfield may have originally been located just on the Delaware side of the state line,
as that is where it was depicted on the 1942 Regional Aeronautical Chart
and the 1944 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
Lovett Field, as depicted on the 1944 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
The 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer)
described Lovett as having a 2,000' runway.
Lovett Field apparently was closed at its original Delaware location at some point between 1944-46,
as it was not depicted at all on the 1946 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
According to the book "Maryland Aloft" by Preston, Lanman, and Breilhan,
Lovett Field evidently was reopened at some point in 1946,
at a new location just to the west across the Maryland state line.
A 1946 MD Airport Directory described the field as having 3 hangars, an office,
and 70 aces that were usable for landing.
Waldo Lovett of Newark, Delaware, was listed as the owner & manager.
The 1947 Washington Sectional Chart depicted Lovett Field at its Maryland location,
and described the field as having a 2,200' unpaved runway.
The 1950 MD Airport Directory (courtesy of Stephen Mahaley)
depicted Lovett Airport as having three turf runways (the longest being 2,150').
Several small hangars & buildings sat at the south end of the field.
It was listed among active airports in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory,
under the name of Lovett Inc., with three sod runways.
The 1964 Washington Sectional Chart described the field in much the same manner.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft", Waldo Lovett operated the field until as late as 1965.
By 1966, the field had been renamed Cecil County Airpark,
and the manager was Jane Stradley.
The field was labeled "Cecil County" on the 1967 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
The 1972 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
depicted Cecil County as having a 2,100' unpaved runway.
The runway at Cecil County was evidently paved at some point between 1972-74,
with a single paved runway, 2,600' long.
The runway at Cecil County had been paved by 1982,
as the 1982 AOPA Airport Directory (courtesy of Ed Drury)
described the field as having a single 2,600' asphalt Runway 17/35.
Diagram from 1987 Maryland State Aeronautical Chart.
The 1992 USGS aerial photo was taken shortly before the field's closure.
A total of 12 light planes were visible parked on the southwest side of the field,
and one plane was on the middle of the runway.
The 1993 Jeppesen Airport Directory depicted the Cecil County Airpark
as having a single 2,500' paved Runway 17/35,
with a ramp & three buildings on the west side of the field.
The last aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of the original Cecil County Airport
was on the March 1993 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Carl Taylor).
It depicted the field as having a single 2,500' paved runway.
A 1997 aerial picture by Philip K. looking east at the Cecil Airport (shortly before it closed).
Note the starkly reduced number of aircraft visible on the field compared to the 1992 photo – only 3 aircraft.
The 1998 USGS topo map depicted the original Cecil County Airport as having a single paved runway.
Cecil County Airport was closed at some point between 1997-98,
when the increasing commercial value of the property caused the owner to sell the land to the WL Gore Company.
It was no longer depicted at all on the 1998 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
A circa 2000 aerial view of the remains of the original Cecil County Airpark.
Paul Freeman flew over the site in 2000.
Only a few hundred feet of runway pavement remain at the north end of the runway.
The remainder of the pavement of the runway has been removed, along with all of the airport buildings,
and a large office complex sits over the south end of the former runway.
The name of this airport lives on, as the former Raintree Airpark (several miles to the south)
has been renamed Cecil County Airport.
Thanks to AJ Maltenfort for providing information about Cecil County.
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Original Phillips Army Airfield, Aberdeen, MD
39.47 North / 76.11 West (Northeast of Baltimore, MD)
The original Phillips Field,
as depicted on the 1929 "Rand McNally Standard Map of MD with Air Trails" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
This former military airfield is located on the grounds of the Aberdeen Proving Ground.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft" by Preston, Lanman, and Breilhan,
shortly after the Proving Ground opened in 1917,
"an air detachment arrived & set up a base for airplanes & dirigibles
at a location described as 'behind the automotive test course.'
A report dated March 1919 stated that by the previous midsummer a landing field, shops, and hangars
worth more than a million dollars had been built halfway between headquarters & the water range,
and a bombing field had been chosen near the Bush River."
The airfield at Aberdeen Proving Ground was built to operate aircraft that supported the creation of bombing tables;
the techniques these tables provided were a means of improving the adequacy of aerial bombing.
In September 1921, a Handley Page bomber at Aberdeen Proving Ground dropped a 4,000 pound bomb -
then a world record.
In 1923, the crash of another Handley Page on takeoff at the proving ground claimed the life of Lt. Wendell Phillips,
in whose honor the airfield was soon renamed.
An undated photo of a JN-4 Jenny biplane at Phillips AAF.
An aeronautical bulletin issued by the Army in 1923 described the airfield
as an irregularly-shaped are offering a landing distance of 2,000'.
The 1929 "Rand McNally
Standard Map of MD with Air Trails" (courtesy of
Chris Kennedy)
described Philips Field as being 2,000' x
2,000' in size.
The May 1932 J-18 Washington D. C. Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted the original Phillips Field. along with the nearby Site 62A & 62B Airway Beacons.
Interestingly, the chart also depicted a "hangar" to the southwest of the original Phillips Field,
in the location eventually occupied by the replacement Phillips Field.
Phillips Field, as depicted on the 1934 U.S. Navy Aviation Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The 1934 Department of Commerce Airport Directory (according to Chris Kennedy)
described "Phillips Field, Army" as having an "L" shaped, 2,500' x 1,500' sod landing area.
It also said, "Field under construction, lights disabled.
Pilots are cautioned to exercise extreme care in landing during daylight hours, unsafe for night operations."
The original Phillips AAF, as depicted on the 1935 Washington Sectional Chart.
Interestingly, the chart also depicted a "hangar" to the southwest of the original Phillips Field,
in the location eventually occupied by the replacement Phillips Field.
The January 1, 1936 Department of Commerce Airway Bulletin
described Phillips Field as consisting of am irregularly-shaped sod field,
with 3 paved runways: 3,000' northeast/southwest & northwest/southeast, and 2,400' north/south.
A hangar & other buildings were said to be located on the south side of the field.
Aerial view looking north at the original Phillips AAF,
from the Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).
The directory described Phillips Field as having three hard-surfaced runways, with the longest being 3,000'.
The aerial photo in the directory depicted a single hangar with a checkerboard pattern on the roof,
southwest of the runways.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft",
"It has been reported that the technique of dive-bombing was first tried at Aberdeen Proving Ground,
and that a 75mm aircraft cannon was test first here during a B-18 flight in 1939."
Phillips AAF was depicted on the 1940 & 1942 Washington Sectional Charts (courtesy of Mike Keefe),
along with the notation, "Civilian emergency use only."
The original Phillips Field was replaced in 1943 by a larger airfield to the west (the present-day Phillips AAF),
as the original airfield was not large enough to operate modern bombers.
By the time of the 1944 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe),
the old airfield was no longer depicted at all on the chart.
The "Abandoned Airport" was still depicted on the 1991 USGS topo map,
with three paved runways (the longest being 4,400').
An auto test course had been constructed adjacent to the north side of the field.
As seen in the 1995 USGS aerial photo,
the three former runways are still recognizable at the original Phillips Field.
It also appears as if the original (circa 1930s?) hangar remains standing, at the south side of the field.
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