Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Texas, Northeastern Corpus Christi area
© 2002, © 2009 by Paul Freeman. Revised 9/18/09.
Aloe AAF / Victoria County Airport (revised 10/13/07) - Fannin Aux AAF #10 (revised 10/21/03)
Matagorda Island AFB (revised 9/18/09) - Matagorda Peninsula AAF / Matagorda Club Airfield / Pierce Field (revised 1/1/09)
Matagorda Peninsula Airport (revised 1/1/09) - Nursery Aux AAF #4 (revised 9/24/05) - Worsham Field (revised 11/12/08)
____________________________________________________
Worsham Field / Hunt Dusting Service Field (90R), Taft, TX
27.98 North / 97.38 West (Northeast of Corpus Christi, TX)
Worsham Field, as depicted on the 1951 USGS topo map.
Photo of the airfield while open has not been located.
This small general aviation airport was evidently established at some point between 1943-45,
as it was not yet depicted at all on the July 1943 Corpus Christi Sectional Chart (courtesy of David Brooks).
The earliest depiction of Worsham Field which has been located
was on the 1945 Edwards Plateau World Aeronautical Chart (according to David Brooks).
Michael Morgan recalled “the old Worsham Field in Taft... I lived in Taft 1946-54 & it was quite active.
Aeronca sales, flight training, and a sizable crop dusting operation.”
The earliest depiction of Worsham Airport which has been located was on the 1951 USGS topo map.
It depicted Worsham Airport as having 3 runways,
with a hangar on the north side.
The earliest aeronautical chart depiction of Worsham Field which has been located
was on the 1964 Corpus Christi Sectional Chart.
The Aerodromes table on the chart described Worsham as having 3 unpaved runways,
with the longest being a 2,200' turf strip.
The 1966 TX Airport Directory (courtesy of David Brooks)
depicted Worsham Field as having 3 turf runways,
with the longest being the 2,200' Runway 8/26.
A hangar with attached office was depicted on the north side of the field.
The field was said to offer minor repairs & fuel.
The operator was listed as the Worsham Dusting Service,
and the manager was listed as D.E. Montgomery.
The 1973 Brownsville Sectional Chart (courtesy of David Brooks)
depicted Worsham Field as having a 2,200' unpaved runway.
At some point between 1973-75 the field was evidently renamed “Hunt”,
as that is hot it was depicted on the 1975 Brownsville Sectional Chart (courtesy of David Brooks).
It depicted Hunt as having a 2,200' unpaved runway.
The 1977 TX Airport Directory (courtesy of David Brooks)
depicted the “Hunt Dusting” Airfield as having 3 turf runways,
with the longest being the 2,500' Runway 13/31.
A single building was depicted on the north side of the field.
The manager was listed as J.M. Hunt.
The 1984 TX Airport Directory (courtesy of David Brooks)
depicted the Hunt Dusting Service Airfield as having 2 runways:
2,260' Runway 13/31 & 2,000' 8/26.
The former Runway 17/35 had apparently been abandoned at some point between 1977-84.
Three buildings were depicted on the north side of the field.
The field was prominently labeled as “Land at own risk.”
The manager was listed as J.M. Hunt.
The last aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of Hunt Field
was on the 1985 Brownsville Sectional Chart (courtesy of David Brooks).
It depicted Hunt as having a 2,200' unpaved runway.
Hunt Field may have been closed (for reasons unknown) at some point between 1985-86.
Michael Morgan recalled, “I went back once, in 1986,
and the field was abandoned with only the hangar still standing.”
The 1989 USGS topo map still depicted “Worsham Airfield” as having 3 unpaved runways,
with the hangar on the north side of the field.
As of the 1995 USGS aerial photo,
the area of the airport's 3 former runways remained clear,
and the hangar on the north side of the field remained standing as well.
The site of Worsham Field is located southeast of the intersection of Rincon Road & Tutt Avenue.
____________________________________________________
Aloe Army Airfield / Victoria County Airport, Aloe, TX
28.78 North / 97.09 West (Southwest of Victoria, TX)
Aloe Army Air Field, an advanced single-engine training field for fighter pilots,
was opened in 1943 on a 1,909-acre tract 5 miles southwest of Victoria.
Aloe became the new home of the Lake Charles Army Flying School,
which relocated from Lake Charles, LA.
Using the North American AT-6 Texan & Curtis P-40,
cadets were schooled in flying & in ground & aerial gunnery.
Aloe AAF, as depicted on the 1943 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
During WW2, Aloe had a total of 4 satellite fields:
Aloe Aux #7 (7.6 miles northwest of Victoria), of which no trace remains,
Aloe Aux #8 (4.2 miles south of Goliad), of which no trace remains,
Aloe Aux #9 (15 miles southwest of Victoria), of which no trace remains,
and Fannin Aux #10 (7.2 miles ENE of Goliad).
The July 1945 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted Aloe AAF as having its own control tower.
Soon after V-J Day the government made plans to reassign the field
as a subpost of Foster Army Air Field (a larger installation northeast of Victoria),
but both Aloe & Foster were closed in 1945.
Aloe AAF was declared surplus by the War Department in 1946
& turned over to the War Assets Administration for disposal.
Aloe Field, with its 304 buildings, was transferred to Victoria County in 1948,
after which the site became Victoria County Airport.
The 1949 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy) described Victoria County Airport
as having a 5,600' hard-surface runway.
The Victoria County Airport was depicted in the 1960 Jeppesen Airway Manual (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
as having four 5,000' paved runways, as well as a very large ramp with numerous buildings on the east side of the field.
In 1960 the County Airport was moved to Foster Field, and Aloe Field was closed.
Victoria County returned the field back to the Federal Government in 1961.
The base was declared surplus by the General Services Administration in 1962 & offered for sale.
The land was broken into parcels & sold in April 1963.
A portion of the former airfield was purchased in 1963 by a local businessman,
who leased a runway on a year-to-year basis to the “Rod Benders”, a hot rod club,
to use the runway for drag races.
The club could not make any permanent improvements at the property.
They named the facility “Six Flags Drag Way”.
Aloe Field was still depicted on the 1964 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bill Suffa),
although it was labeled "closed".
The Aerodromes table on the chart described Aloe as having a total of 4 runways,
with the longest being a 5,655' concrete runway.
An undated (circa 1960s?) photo of a 1960s-era Mustang competing in a drag race on an Aloe runway.
Note the hangar in the background at left, and a Piper or Beechcraft on the right.
In 1968 G.A. Kupfernagel purchased the property which had been used for drag racing,
and named it “Six Flags Raceway Park”.
In 1973 Kupfernagel sold the land & equipment.
The new owner continued to operate races at the airfield until the end of 1975,
when he sold the land to a developer.
The west side of the airfield (including the runways) has become an industrial park.
The east side has become a housing development.
The remaining runways of the former Aloe airfield were not depicted at all on the 1987 USGS topo map,
just several buildings on the east side of the field.
A 1990 photo by John Voss of hangars & the ramp of the former Aloe AAF.
A 1994 photo by Scott Murdock of pavement of a former runway at Aloe AAF.
As seen in the 1995 USGS aerial photo,
the airfield consisted of 4 concrete runways (the largest is 5,800' long), taxiways & a large ramp,
the vast majority of which still existed.
Industrial buildings had been built on the southern end of the north/south runway,
and a railroad yard had been built on the southern end of the ramp.
According to Mike Erwin (who visited the site in 1997),
remnants of the control tower were still visible.
Aloe was not depicted at all (even as an abandoned airfield) on either recent aeronautical charts,
which is unusual for such a large airfield.
A circa 2001-2005 aerial view shows that Route 463 was constructed (at some point between 1995-2003)
right through the center of the former airfield.
Large portions of 4 runways & the extensive ramp still remained intact.
Navy flight instructor Michael Strobach reported in 2003,
"I, too, was surprised that the field was not depicted on the sectional.
It's been industrialized, but the field is clearly visible even from far away.
One difference I noticed between [the above] 1995 picture & today
is that a north/south road has been constructed that runs right through the middle of the field."
Scott Murdock visited the site of Aloe AAF again in 2003,
and reported that it "looked much as it did on my first visit in 1994."
A 2003 photo by Erik Vela of a former Aloe hangar, now reused for fuel storage.
A 2003 photo by Erik Vela, looking west along the former Runway 27.
A 2003 photo by Erik Vela, looking southwest along Aloe's former ramp.
A 2003 Army Corps of Engineers diagram of the WW2-era boundaries of Aloe AAF.
The site of Aloe AAF is located on Route 59, near Route 175.
See also:
The Handbook of Texas History Online.
A 1996 Army Corps of Engineers Report.
____________________________________________________
Fannin Aux Army Airfield #10, Fannin, TX
28.7 North / 97.28 West (West of Victoria, TX)
Auxiliary Airfield “#10”, as depicted on the July 1945 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Photo of the airfield while open has not been located.
This field was used during WW2 as one of 4 satellite fields for Aloe AAF (12.4 miles east-northeast),
which was a center for advanced flight training in single engine aircraft.
The date of construction of Fannin has not been determined.
It was evidently built at some point in 1943,
as it was not depicted at all on the 1943 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),
but it was depicted on a 1943 AAF map of Foster Field & surrounding airfields.
The military property at Fannin consisted of a total of 939 acres.
The July 1945 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted “#10” as an auxiliary airfield.
The Fannin Auxiliary Airfield was somewhat confusingly labeled "Aloe AF"
on the 1949 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),
and described as having a 4,000' hard-surface runway.
Fannin was abandoned at some point between 1949-64,
as it was labeled "Aband arpt" on the 1964 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bill Suffa).
It was labeled "Foster Air Force Auxiliary #2" on the 1978 USGS topo map,
but according to other sources, that field was located elsewhere (18 miles NNW of Victoria).
The 1987 USGS topo map labeled the field as “Foster Field (Aban'd)”,
and depicted it as having 3 paved runways, taxiways, and a paved ramp on the northeast side.
The gate which leads to Fannin Field. Photo by Scott Murdock 1994.
As of 1994, the runways were being reused for open storage of industrial equipment.
As of the 1995 USGS aerial photo,
the airfield consisted of three 4,000' runways, taxiways & a ramp.
Fannin was still depicted as an abandoned airfield on 2003 aeronautical charts.
The Fannin airfield is located on the north side of Route 59, 7 miles east-northeast of Goliad, TX.
____________________________________________________
Nursery Auxiliary Army Airfield #4, Thomaston, TX
28.97 North / 97.06 West (North of Victoria, TX)
Auxiliary Airfield “#4”, as depicted on the July 1945 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Photo of the airfield while open has not been located.
This field was used during WW2 as one of 4 satellite fields for Foster AAF (13 miles southeast),
which was a center for advanced flight training in single engine aircraft.
The date of construction of Nursery Aux AAF has not been determined.
It was evidently built at some point in 1943,
as it was not depicted at all on the 1943 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),
but it was depicted on a 1943 AAF map of Foster Field & surrounding airfields.
The military property at Nursery consisted of a total of 472 acres.
The July 1945 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted “#4” as an auxiliary airfield, around which was a circular “Danger Area”.
What was that for? Was this field also used as a target for gunnery or bombing?
The Nursery airfield was labeled as "Foster #4" on the 1949 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),
and described as having a 5,500' hard-surface runway.
It may have been abandoned at some point between 1949-52,
as Scott Murdock said that Nursery Airfield was brought back into service
as Foster AF Auxiliary Field #1 (2129) from about 1952-58.
The Nursery airfield was apparently abandoned again at some point between 1958-64,
as it was not depicted at all (not even as an abandoned airfield)
on the 1964 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bill Suffa).
A 1994 photo by Scott Murdock of the gate which leads to the former Nursery Field.
Note the sign which still says "Airport Pasture".
As of 1994, the property was being used as a cattle feedlot.
Giving a clue to its former life, the access gate is still marked "Airport Pasture."
As of the 1995 USGS aerial photo, the airfield consisted of 3 runways (the largest is 5,400'), taxiways & a ramp.
The 2 diagonal runways were barely visible, and may have been plowed over.
The north/south runway was in much better condition,
and may have remained in use at a later date than the other two.
Nursery AAF was depicted as an abandoned airfield on recent Sectional aeronautical charts,
and was depicted (but labeled simply "Airfield (Abandoned)" on recent USGS topo maps.
The Nursery Airfield is located on Route 87, near Route 447, 12.5 miles north-northwest of Victoria, TX.
____________________________________________________
Matagorda Island AFB, Matagorda Island, TX
28.33 North / 96.46 West (Northeast of Corpus Christi, TX)
The only photo which has been located which showed Matagorda Island AFB while in use
is this undated picture, captioned “Engineering personnel perform maintenance on the F-84G at Matagorda Island”,
from “The Story of the 184th/127th Kansas Air National Guard, 1941-86" (courtesy of Todd Greenberg).
This abandoned airfield is located on a narrow island on the Gulf of Mexico.
It was built in 1943 as an Army Airfield,
to support the surrounding 50,825 acre Matagorda Island Bombing Range,
which conducted air-to-air & air-to-ground gunnery training.
The airfield was labeled as "Matagorda Island Gunnery Range"
on the 1943 San Antonio Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).
The airfield was reactivated as an Air Force Base for the Strategic Air Command in 1949.
The 1949 San Antonio Sectional Chart depicted the field as "Matagorda Island (Army)" (according to Chris Kennedy),
and described the field as having a 4,000' hard-surface runway.
The Matagorda Island Bombing Range was controlled at one time or another by Foster Field, Randolph AFB,
Carswell AFB, Bergstrom AFB, Chennault AFB, and Barksdale AFB.
The runways at Matagorda Island were apparently doubled in length at some point between 1949-64.
Matagorda Island AFB was depicted as an active airfield on the 1964 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bill Suffa).
It was depicted as having a total of 6 paved runways (the longest being 8,000'),
its own control tower, VOR beacon, and NDB beacon.
"Matagorda Island AF", as depicted on the 1966 Edwards Plateau WAC Chart (courtesy of Robert Brown).
Matagorda Island AFB was deactivated in 1975.
The property is now a federal wildlife refuge; the airfield is completely abandoned.
The large airfield includes 6 paved runways (the longest is 10,800') & extensive paved ramps.
It is depicted as an abandoned airfield on current Sectional Charts.
In the 1980's & 1990's, Matagorda Island was used
as a location for the Tethered Aerostat Radar System.
A series of photos of the remains of the runways at Matagorda, by Scott Murdock, 1994.
Remaining military buildings at Matagorda, by Scott Murdock, 1994.
A foundation of a former hangar at Matagorda, by Scott Murdock, 1994.
USGS photo 1995.
According to Jason Knutson (who visited the Matagorda Island AFB site in 2002),
"The longest runway still has visible markings on it & is in relatively good condition.
The tarmac & taxiways also still exist but have weeds growing everywhere.
There are also foundations remaining from some of the hangars."
A 2009 aerial view looking north at the massive Matagorda AFB airfield by Hector Zuniga.
Hector reported, “The aerial views of the base plus the amazing weather & visibility were more than worth the 2 hour outward leg & return flight.”
See also: The Handbook of Texas Online
____________________________________________________
Matagorda Peninsula Army Airfield / Matagorda Peninsula Airport /
Matagorda Club Airfield / Pierce Field (72TA), Matagorda Peninsula, TX
28.46 North / 96.29 West (Northeast of Corpus Christi, TX)
Matagorda Club Airport, as depicted on the 1964 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bill Suffa).
This former military airfield is located along a narrow island on the Gulf of Mexico.
According to Joe Benson, it was built during WW2 to support the Matagorda Bombing Range to the west,
and was a sub-base of Foster AAF.
The 1943 San Antonio Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy)
labeled the airfield as "Matagorda Peninsula (Central Fixed Gunnery School)".
The Matagorda Peninsula airfield was closed by the military at some point after between 1943-49,
and reused as a private airfield.
The 1949 San Antonio Sectional Chart depicted it as a civil airfield, "Matagorda Peninsula" (according to Chris Kennedy),
and described it as having a 4,000' hard-surface runway.
It was labeled "Matagorda Club" on the 1964 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bill Suffa).
It was depicted as a private airfield,
with a total of 5 runways (the longest was a 4,285' asphalt runway).
According to George Horn (a pilot for the state of TX who has landed at Pierce Field),
the property of this airfield was once used by Deke Slayton & other former astronauts
in a private (commercial) space venture in the late 1960s/1970s.
Several attempts to launch kerosene/liquid oxygen vehicles were made there, none of which succeeded.
The site was also one of the early NASA considerations for a launch site,
before they settled on Cape Canaveral.
No active airfield was listed at the site in the 1982 AOPA Airport Directory.
A 1984 photo by Frank Henderson of his friends in front of their Tiger,
after landing at the abandoned Matagorda Peninsula AAF.
He flew in "to spend the day on the beach.
It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable days of my life.
The airport was still very usable at the time,
although it may take an adventurous spirit to try landing there -
cowpatties & weeds were littering the surface."
He said that they had the beach to themselves - "Blue water, white sand... nice."
The 1989 USGS topo map depicted the “Matagorda Peninsula Airport”
as having a total of 5 paved runways, with a large paved ramp on the east side.
The property adjacent to the east side of the airfield was labeled as the “Matagorda Club”.
As seen in the 1995 USGS aerial photo,
the airfield includes 5 concrete runways, taxiways & a large ramp.
From at least 1998-2002, the airfield has been reused as a private airfield, Pierce Field.
Two runways are still maintained (the longest, 6/24, is 6,000').
A 2003 aerial view by Robert Laird looking northwest at several houses built on stilts over the western edge of the Pierce Field ramp.
Navy flight instructor Michael Strobach reported in 2003,
"I've flown over this field many times, and more than once I've seen Cessnas parked there.
The field looks in very bad shape, so whoever lands there is a true cowboy.
Today, I noticed a new-looking windsock."
Hector Zuniga overflew Pierce Field in 2009,
and reported, “Poor Pierce field, it seems that most of the runways & taxiways have been taken over by settlers or squatters
as structures that appear to be RVs & trailer homes are spaced out evenly among all of them.
Only the tarmac seems to be clear of them & in good shape, its concrete is nearly ash black with age however.
I saw no buildings in the way of hangars, towers, water towers or other 'military' looking structures left at all.
I could not even make up any of their possible bases or foundations.”
____________________________________________________
Matagorda Peninsula Airport (XS09), Matagorda Peninsula, TX
28.54 North / 96.12 West (Northeast of Corpus Christi, TX)
Matagorda Peninsula Airport, as depicted on the 1964 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bill Suffa).
This airfield is located along a narrow island on the Gulf of Mexico.
The date of construction of Matagorda Peninsula Airport is unknown.
It was apparently built at some point between 1949-64,
as it was not depicted at all on the 1949 San Antonio Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).
The earliest reference to the field which has been located
is the 1964 San Antonio Sectional Chart (courtesy of Bill Suffa).
It depicted Matagorda Peninsula as a private airfield with a single 3,000' asphalt runway.
The 1980 USGS topo map depicted the field as having a single east/west runway,
labeled simply as “Landing Strip”.
Matagorda Peninsula was listed as a private airfield in the 1982 AOPA Airport Directory (courtesy of Ed Drury),
and it was described as having a single 5,100' asphalt Runway 8/26.
In the 1995 USGS aerial photo, the airfield consisted of a single 5,100' asphalt runway,
as well as a small ramp area with 2 small buildings.
According to George Horn (a pilot for the state of TX),
Matagorda Peninsula Airport (XS09) has been a private strip
owned by the Cullen family (a wealthy Houston oil family) for many decades.
As a pilot for the state of Texas,
Horn landed at Matagorda Peninsula in the late 1990s during acquisition talks.
It has recently passed into possession of the state of Texas & is a closed wildlife preserve.
Matagorda Peninsula Airport was depicted as an abandoned airfield on 2002 aeronautical charts.
An April 2002 aerial view by Robert Laird looking southwest at Matagorda Peninsula Airport.
An April 2002 photo by Robert Laird of an ultralight after landing at Matagorda Peninsula Airport.
Navy flight instructor Michael Strobach reported in 2003,
"I flew over Matagorda Peninsula Airport. This field looks like it's in very good shape."
____________________________________________________