Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Central Virginia
© 2002, © 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 4/6/08.
(Original) Culpeper Airport (revised 6/23/06) - Gordonsville Intermedidate Field (revised 1/30/07)
South Hill Municipal (revised 4/6/08) - Staunton Aiport (added 10/3/07)
University of Virginia Airport / Milton Field (revised 6/22/06) - Valley Airport (added 10/4/07)
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Valley Airport (original location), Waynesboro, VA
38.09 North / 78.87 West (Northwest of Richmond, VA)
Valley Airport, as depicted on the June 1939 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The date of establishment of the Valley Airport has not been determined.
The earliest reference which has been located to Valley Airport
comes from Clover Archer, curator of the Waynesboro Heritage Foundation,
who reported: “We have 2 artifacts relating to Valley Airport.
They are trophies that were awarded to Valley Airport at an Air Derby on October 12, 1928.
One of them says: 'Air Derby, Thompson Field, Oct 12-1928, Speed Race. Won By Valley Airport.'”
The earliest airport directory listing which has been located of the Valley Airport
was in The Airport Directory Company's 1933 Airport Directory (according to Chris Kennedy).
It described Valley Airport as being located 1.75 miles northwest of the town of Waynesboro
(which may have described an earlier location, or it may have been in error).
The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airport Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo)
described Valley Airport as being located 1.75 miles northeast of the town of Waynesboro
(which agrees with later chart depictions of the field's location).
It described Valley as a commercial airport, consisting of a 50-acre sod field.
The field was said to have 2 runways in an “L” shape: 2,250' northwest/southeast & 2,000 northeast/southwest.
The earliest depiction which has been located of the Valley Airport
was on the June 1939 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It depicted Valley as a commercial/municipal airport.
The last depiction which has been located of the Valley Airport
was on the November 1945 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It depicted Valley as a commercial/municipal airport.
The original location of Valley Airport was evidently closed at some point between 1945-53,
as Clover Archer (curator of the Waynesboro Heritage Foundation) reported,
“GE bought the property & built their plant there in 1953.”
A replacement Valley Airport was eventually opened at another location to the west of Waynesboro at some point between 1945-54,
as the new field was depicted on the July 1954 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),
but the original airfield (to the northeast of the town) was no longer depicted.
As seen in a circa 2006 aerial photo,
the site of Valley Airport has been covered by a large industrial building (the GE plant),
and it does not appear as if any trace remains of the former airport.
The site of the original Valley Airport is located northwest of the intersection of Route 340 & Hopeman Parkway.
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38.19 North / 79.01 West (Northwest of Richmond, VA)
Staunton Airport, as depicted on the June 1939 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The date of establishment of the Staunton Airport has not been determined.
The earliest reference which has been located to the Staunton Airport
was in The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airport Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).
It described Staunton as an auxiliary airfield located 5 miles north of the town of Staunton, consisting of an 117 acre field.
The field was said to have 2 runways in a “V” shape, oriented east/west & north/south, with the longest being 2,630'.
The earliest depiction which has been located of the Staunton Airport
was on the June 1939 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It depicted Staunton as a commercial/municipal airport.
The last aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of the Staunton Airport
was on the November 1945 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It depicted Staunton as a commercial/municipal airport.
The last depiction which has been located of the Staunton Airport was on the 1947 USGS topo map.
It labeled the site simply as “Airport”, and did not depict any runways or property outline,
just an open area with a few small buildings along the edges.
The Staunton Airport was evidently abandoned (for reasons unknown) at some point between 1945-54,
as it was no longer depicted at all on the July 1954 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
As seen in a circa 2006 aerial photo,
the site of Staunton Airport has been covered by several buildings,
and it does not appear as if any trace remains of the former airport.
The site of Staunton Airport is located south of the intersection of Route 11 & Laurel Hill Road.
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Gordonsville Intermedidate Field, Gordonsville, VA
38.06 North / 78.17 West (Northwest of Richmond, VA)
Gordonsville Intermediate Field, as depicted on the June 1939 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The Gordsonsville Intermediate Field was one of the network of fields established in the 1930s by the Department of Commerce
for the emergency use of commercial aircraft flying along airways between major cities.
The Gordsonsville Intermediate Field was evidently established at some point between 1937-38,
as it was not yet listed in The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airport Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).
Note that the 1937 directory only described the Gordonsville Airport north of the town.
The earliest reference to the Gordsonsville Intermediate Field which has been located
was in The Airport Directory Company's 1938 Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It described the Gordonsville airfield (5 miles southeast of the town of Gordonsville)
as the Department of Commerce's Intermediate Field Site 50, along the Nashville-Washington Airway.
The field was said to have 2 sod runways in a T-shape, measuring 3,125' northwest/southeast & 2,250' northeast/southwest.
The field was said to have a hangar, but to offer no other services.
An October 1939 aerial view looking northeast at the Gordonsville Intermediate Field
(courtesy of the National Archives, photo # 18-LMU-08-829P).
The photo depicted the field as having 2 grass runways in a “T” shape,
with a rotating beacon across the road the south.
There were no hangars visible in the photo.
The 1948 USAAF Pilot's Handbook (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted the Gordonsville Intermediate Field as having two unpaved runways:
3,120' northwest/southeast & 2,250' northeast/southwest.
No buildings were depicted at the site.
The last depiction which has been located of the Gordonsville Intermediate Field as an active airfield
was on the January 1957 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It described the field as having 2 runways, with the longest being a 3,221' turf strip.
The Gordsonsville Intermediate Field was evidently abandoned at some point between 1957-58,
as it was no longer depicted at all on the May 1958 Huntington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
This was longer than many of the other Intermediate Fields had lasted,
as their need had long ago been obviated by the advances in range & reliability of commercial aircraft.
Nothing at the site of Gordsonsville Intermediate Field was depicted on the 1961 USGS topo map.
As seen in the 1994 USGS aerial photo,
the outlines of Gordonsville Intermediate Field's two former runways were still evident,
although divided up into separate fields.
It does not appear as if any of the buildings at the site date from its days as an airfield.
The site of Gordonsville Intermediate Field is located north of the intersection of Route 22 & Nolting Road.
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South Hill Municipal Airport, South Hill, VA
36.71 North / 78.17 West (Southwest of Richmond, VA)
South Hill Municipal Airport, as depicted on the October 1948 Winston-Salem Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The South Hill Municipal Airport was apparently built at some point between 1945-48,
as it was not depicted on the March 1945 Winston-Salem Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).
The earliest depiction of the field which has been located
was on the October 1948 Winston-Salem Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It depicted South Hill as having an 1,800' unpaved runway.
South Hill apparently gained a paved runway at some point between 1948-62,
as the March 1966 Winston-Salem Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted the field as having a 2,200' paved runway.
The 1970 VA Airport Directory (courtesy of Stephen Mahaley)
described South Hill Municipal Airport as having a single 2,000' paved Runway 4/22,
and depicted 4 small hangars along the northwest side of the runway.
The manager was listed as H. E. Bailey.
A September 28, 1973 aerial view by Kenneth Keeton looking southeast at South Hill Municipal Airport.
Several individual T-hangars were visible along the northwest side of the runway.
South Hill Airport, as depicted on the 1975 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Ed Drury)
The 1979 Flight Guide (courtesy of Chris Kennedy) depicted South Hill Municipal Airport
as having a single 2,200' paved runway 4/22, with a ramp at the northern part of the runway,
with four small buildings (hangars?).
South Hill Municipal Airport apparently was closed at some point between 1979-86,
as it was not listed in the 1986 Flight Guide (according to Chris Kennedy).
This was most likely due to competition from the new & larger Mecklenburg-Brunswick Regional Airport
which was built at some point between 1962-78, four miles southeast of the town of South Hill.
In the 1996 USGS aerial photo,
it appeared as if the former runway had been reused as a road (Montgomery Street)
in an industrial park which had been built on the site of the former airport.
A 2003 aerial photo showed the site of the former airport to be basically unchanged since 1996,
with the former paved runway still being reused as a road (Montgomery Street) in the middle of the industrial park.
The site of South Hill Municipal Airport is located south of the intersection of Route 1 & Bailey Road.
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University of Virginia Airport / Milton Field, Milton, VA
37.99 North / 78.39 West (East of Charlottesville, VA)
An undated photo of the University's fleet of training aircraft,
Also known as Milton Field,
the former airport of the University of Virginia is located along the west bank of the Rivanna River,
east of Milton Road, one mile south of Milton, VA.
The University's airfield was Central Virginia's first & only commercial airport for many years.
According to an article by Maura Singleton in the University of VA Alumni Association Magazine (courtesy of Mark Harvey),
in 1939, the University's move to buy Hughes River Farm along the west bank of the Rivanna River
stirred the ire of residents in the surrounding agrarian communities of Milton, Shadwell and Keswick.
The prospect of low-flying aircraft piloted by young guns from the local university posed untold hazards.
The property, owned by W.D. Hayden, had in fact originally been part of Thomas Jefferson's 5,000-acre plantation,
and was possibly one of the sites of his water-powered manufacturing enterprises.
The University, which already offered students ground training in aeronautics,
had a compelling reason for wanting to build an airfield.
The Civilian Pilot Training Program, a government-sponsored program
designed to provide a pool of civilian pilots for military service, was newly launched.
Hitler had just invaded Poland; the threat of involvement in the war loomed large.
Lawyers for the property owners association shared their gripes at an October 20, 1939
hearing by the State Corporation Commission in Richmond,
where they delivered their trump card, to wit:
Mr. Jefferson did not allow for an airport or a school of flight in the University's 1812 charter.
The SCC judges weren't swayed.
Commercial license in hand, the University purchased the 90 acres of level floodplain for $17,800
and cleared the cornfields for two crisscrossing runways, oriented north/south & east/west,
plus a third short north/south runway.
It would seem that big things were expected:
the dedication ceremony on April 28, 1940 attracted a crowd of 2,000 people.
The usual formalities - the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution presented a flag to the University,
the dean of engineering gave a speech -
were interrupted by the unexpected & dramatic arrival of one of the SCC judges,
who touched down in a Stinson Reliant.
An undated photo of Walter "Roy" Franke.
That the University undertook such a project was due to the energies & talents of two men:
Frederick Morse & Walter "Roy" Franke. Both were aviators.
Morse chaired the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
and Franke was a structural engineer & part-time instructor for U.Va.
Morse & Franke developed the first wind tunnel at the University.
If both men were born to fly, they were also born teachers.
Morse became the director of the University's Civilian Pilot Training Program & headed the ground school.
As second in command, Franke was the flight operations director & essentially ran the airport.
The flight school moved into high gear almost immediately.
The first pilot training class began in November 1939.
Lasting four or five months, each class enrolled 30 students.
That schedule became more compressed when the U.S. entered the war,
with a new class receiving pilot certification every two months.
In late 1940, with a $21,000 grant from the Works Progress Administration,
the University expanded Milton Airport.
The runways were extended, a new & larger hangar was constructed,
and a two-story cinderblock administration building was built.
Most students learned on the Piper Cub J-3, which was considered the "Model T" of aviation -
cheap, easy to fly, and forgiving on landings.
With a gross weight of 1,220 pounds, and a maximum speed of 85 mph,
the Cub was an excellent trainer, requiring only 800 feet of takeoff room.
An instructor strapped himself into the seat as students learned rolls,
forced landings, figure eights, stalls, spins and steep power turns.
For advanced training, students flew the T-6 Texan.
Designed to prepare pilots to fly bombers and fighters,
this aircraft could roll, loop, spin and snap, and gave training in all types of tactics,
from ground strafing to bombardment & aerial dogfighting.
To earn their wings, students had to complete 72 hours of a ground course that included classes in meteorology,
theory of flight, engines, instrumentation, elementary air navigation and civil air regulations.
The flight course called for a minimum of 17 hours with an instructor & 18 hours solo.
"For extra flying time, students could hop on a tractor & bush hog the airfield,"
recalls Fritz Franke, Roy Franke's son.
The Airport Directory Company's 1941 Airports Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
described the University of VA Airport as having two sod runways: 2,400' north/south & 1,800' east/west.
The field was said to have hangars.
The "University of VA" was depicted as a commercial airport
on the September 1941 9M Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
When the U.S. became involved in World War II,
the Army & Navy took over existing airfields such as Milton Airport
to groom pilots until their own training centers could be built.
During this period of intensive training, the staff of ground & flight instructors and service personnel numbered almost 25.
A Civil Air Patrol squadron was established by Frederick Morse at Milton Field during WW2.
The University of VA Airport was described in the 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer)
as having a 3,500' runway.
The 1945 Haire Publishing Company Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
described the University of Virginia Airport as having two sod runways
(with the longest being a 3,500' north/south strip),
and said that the field also had a single 80' x 100' hangar.
It listed the operator as Virginia Cub Distributors,
and listed the manager as W. R. Franke.
USGS topo map 1946.
After the war, the University's flying field continued in its dual capacity as a commercial airport,
but the University's interest in its own airport started to decline.
In 1948 the Board of Visitors granted permission to lease the airport,
but urged University officials to dispose of the property as soon as possible.
At one time, the University's fleet included a Grumman Wildcat, a Spartan NP-1, and a couple of Stinsons.
When faculty needed to attend conferences around the state,
they sometimes used Frederick Morse's four-passenger plane, nicknamed the "Blue Goose",
or a Beechcraft 18, a World War II military aircraft that was reconditioned for use as executive transport.
The Beechcraft was declared surplus by the University just a year after its purchase,
however, because of the lack of licensed pilots to fly it.
Business at Milton Field began to dwindle with the opening of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport,
eight miles north of town, in 1955.
The engineering school used a single-engine Stinson Voyager
to teach an undergraduate lab course, but that, too, was eventually stopped.
"The students flew as passengers & did measurements.
They were like flight-test engineers," says George Matthews, a professor emeritus of aerospace engineering.
"That course got deleted in the mid-1960s due to growing liability concerns.
The plane was sold, and U.Va. didn't buy any more."
The Civil Air Patrol squadron which had been established during WW2 continued in peacetime.
Reid, who served as Morse's adjunct, recalls that the club was a mix of students, faculty and local citizens.
"We were involved in search and rescue missions in the area," he says.
"We got called a lot, because there was no organized air activity then for missing aircraft."
An undated photo of a stunt act at Milton Field,
in which a stuntman climbed up from a moving car into a Piper as it flew along the runway.
The crowds that came to the airport now came as spectators for the Sunday afternoon aerobatic shows.
Helmetless men performed maneuvers the likes of which, these days, seem downright rash -
wing walking, hanging precariously upside down from a plane's strut to snatch an object from the ground.
Another popular stunt involved racing a convertible the length of the landing strip,
from which a rider was plucked by a low-flying plane.
Bob Somers conducted flight instruction at the University of Virginia Airport in a red & white Aeronca 7AC in 1959.
The UVA Airport was listed among active airports in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory,
with a single 3,800' turf runway (18/36), and the operator listed as J.W. Taylor.
A 1962 picture in the book "Virginia Airports" by Vera Rollo & Norman Crabill (published by the VAHS)
depicted the UVA Airport as having a large arched-roof hangar, a smaller hangar, and a two-story office building.
The University's last plane
was sold off in the mid-1960s.
From the time of its dedication to the end of its commercial use, Milton Airport had a life span of a mere 25 years.
Roy Franke continued to lease the airport for a number of years
and serviced private planes before turning over the lease in 1964 to two partners,
a local businessman & a judge.
A few flying & parachuting clubs used the field, but otherwise the partners didn't have much success.
The 1968 VA Airport Directory (courtesy of Don Thompson) described the UVA Airport
as having two grass runways, and listed the operator as Charlottesville Aviation Inc.
A 1969 picture in the book "Virginia Airports" showed that a flood had covered the entire runway area of the UVA Airport,
with the hangars & office building just having been spared from being inundated.
At some point between 1968-70, the airfield was apparently renamed "Monticello",
as that is how it was labeled on the 1970 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Clifford).
Monticello was still depicted as an active public-use airfield
on the 1973 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
In the UVA Airport's latter years the operator was Horizon Aviation,
which also ran a fixed-base operation at Charlottesville Airport (according to the book "Virginia Airports").
Milton Field officially closed in 1971,
according to an article in the University of VA Alumni Association Magazine (courtesy of Mark Harvey).
However, it wasn't until 1974 that the operating license for the UVA Airport was cancelled,
according to the book "Virginia Airports".
By the time of the 1975 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Ed Drury),
the airport was no longer depicted at all.
Over the subsequent years, Milton Airport has become a kind of anomaly,
serving every purpose except its original one.
A hay farmer leased it briefly, then for 10 years it functioned as a tree farm.
A 1992 aerial photo in the book "Virginia Airports" showed that the area around the hangars had become thickly wooded.
This is in stark contrast to photos of the same area from the 1960s,
when then area around the hangars was an open grassy area.
The airport made a brief news splash in the early 1990s
when volunteers with the Virginia Canals & Navigation Society found a 60' long bateau, intact,
stuck in the riverbank on the property.
Before a flood swept it away, archeologists were able to date it to Jefferson's time,
and guessed that its machine-made nails were probably made in Monticello's shop.
USGS aerial view 1994.
In a 1994 report by the state Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee,
the Milton Airport property was declared surplus by the University,
and was included among state-owned properties that could be put up for sale.
In 1995, when word spread that the University was considering disposing of the airport, interest was reawakened.
The nearby Clifton Inn made inquiries, considering the property for a sports complex.
Albemarle County also looked into acquiring it for recreational use,
its flat runways well suited for soccer or softball fields.
Even the state Department of Corrections made a site inspection.
The fact that most of the property lies in a floodplain (less than 35 acres are developable) has kept its prospects modest.
But perhaps more formidable than its topography has been the opposition of local landowners.
Just across the Rivanna River is the private, gated golf community of Glenmore,
whose residents have thwarted such schemes.
Monticello, too, has followed various proposals with particular concern
because the property is situated within its "viewshed."
Aerial view looking west, taken from a Diamond Katana DA20-C1, by Paul Freeman, 2002.
Paul Freeman flew over the former Milton Field in 2002.
The larger hangar still remained standing,
but the cleared areas of the former runways were becoming overgrown.
The former airfield was no longer depicted at all (even as an abandoned airfield)
on the 2002 Washington Sectional Chart.
As of 2003, local law enforcement agencies use part of the former airport property as a shooting range
and for training exercises involving dogs.
The U.S. Army ROTC likes the varied terrain for field training drills.
The U.S. Air Force maintains an air monitoring station there as part of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,
measuring radionuclides in the atmosphere.
Franke, who keeps a watchful eye over the property while doing environmental research & computer work there,
is also the station's operations technician.
The former hangar has been used to store thousands of folded graduation chairs,
along with recycling containers & snow-removal equipment.
As of 2003, there is still flying taking place, albeit of different dimensions.
The amateur Rivanna Radio Airplane Club uses the short runway
in exchange for keeping the area free of trash & the grass mown.
Their weekend air shows have an avid following.
On the other runways, U.Va. students fly a solar-powered airship,
which is also kept in the former hangar.
Although Milton Field was still listed by the University as surplus property,
it hasn't yet been sold (as of 2003).
Thanks to Charles Robertson for pointing out this field.
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Original Culpeper Airport, Culpeper, VA
38.46 North / 78.02 West (Southwest of Washington, DC)
The original Culpeper Airport, as depicted on the 1947 Washington Sectional Chart.
The original Culpeper Airport was opened in 1946,
when Peter Jarvis leased land from Tom Cline along Route 29 across from the current Holiday Inn
a mile or so southwest of the town of Culpeper.
According to the book "Virginia Airports" by Vera Rollo & Norman Crabill (published by the VAHS),
Jarvis' applied for his operating license for the airfield on 1/29/46,
and it was approved on 6/12/46.
Jarvis hoped his airport could realize significant income from G.I. Bill students,
but that never really materialized, and it was in financial trouble within several years.
The 1947 Washington Sectional Chart depicted Culpeper as having a 1,700' unpaved runway.
A number of tenants & students banded together to form the Culpeper Flying Club,
later the Culpeper Flying Corporation, to keep the field & their flying going.
Bill Carpenter (who had flown out of Lindsey’s farm in the 1930s) led the group,
operated the field & became even more of a Culpeper aerial legend.
Bill owned several aircraft throughout his career,
but usually flew his Piper PA-11 Cub which has been in the family for several decades.
In its early career, NC 4854M graced the cover of the March 1948 Flying Magazine
(which sold for 25 cents at the newsstand).
He bought it from the Reeds when they needed cash to make one of the airport payments to Jarvis.
One of Bill’s favorite tricks was to go up on a windy day, fly up Main Street,
throttle back to near idle & drift backwards or just "hover" over Main & Davis.
Of course he would land on any field or meadow,
but then getting somewhere on the ground was a chore.
So he made a rig & mounted a small motor-bike outside on the right side of the fuselage
and he would putt-putt to wherever he needed to go after landing.
Back then the rules weren’t so stiff.
Nearly 20 planes were based at a time at the old Culpeper field,
and some 90 airplanes were based there over a 30 year period after WW2,
including Cessna, Pipers, Beechcrafts, Culvers, Luscombes, Bellancas, Stinsons, and Swifts.
But the Culpeper field wasn’t very big.
Initially Runway 6/24 was only 1,600', with a bit of a grade on 24, although it was 300' wide.
In 1947, a crosswind Runway 1/19 of a whopping 2,150' was constructed, albeit only 200' wide.
These were fine for Luscombes & Pipers, but it was a tight squeeze for some of the "hotter" aircraft.
T. I. Martin, long-term Mayor of Culpeper (and for whom the replacement airport was later named)
happened to be at the field one day when golfer Arnold Palmer landed his Aero Commander.
With the brakes locked & the wheels sliding over the grass,
Palmer's Commander stopped "within inches" of the far end.
After stepping out, Palmer turned to Martin & just said, "Damned short strip", and went off to his game.
Bill Carpenter’s son, Glen, claims he also once saw a twin Beech squeeze into the strip
and watched thirteen people (admittedly some children) clamber out.
He said it looked like the Volkswagon in a circus and you could see the shock struts expand as they deplaned.
Surprisingly, considerable night flying was done, even though the field was initially unlit.
Some boundary lights were later installed on Runway 6/24.
The 1949 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
described Culpeper as having a 2,900' unpaved runway.
Peter Jarvis sold the field in 1949 to Harry Lehman and Frank & Evelyn Reed
(who had previously operated Beacon & Hyde Fields),
but he had to repossess it in 1950 after payments fell behind.
However, Jarvis died prematurely from a sudden heart attack in 1951.
Merton Meade recalled “The old Culpeper field was a lot of fun.
Very nice grass & the Holiday Inn across the street was where we usually had lunch.”
A circa 1950 aerial view of the original Culpeper Airport.
A circa 1950 view of the ramp area at the original Culpeper Airport.
Peter Jarvis & his Luscombe at the original Culpeper Airport.
The runway length had been reduced on the 1951 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe),
which described Culpeper as having a 2,300' unpaved runway.
The original Culpeper Airport, as depicted on the 1961 USGS topo map.
The 1962 AOPA Airport Directory described the field as having two turf runways:
2,300' Runway 1/19 & 1,700' Runway 5/23.
The operator was listed as Culpeper Flying Service.
The original Culpeper Airport was depicted on the 1964 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)
as having a 2,300' unpaved runway.
Perhaps more surprisingly, but maybe not so much given the caliber of those running the operations & training,
there were few incidents or crashes at the field; none of the latter by residents.
But as the town grew, there was clearly a need for a bigger & paved field.
The old field was surrounded & couldn’t really be enlarged.
A site for a new Culpeper Airport was selected at Elkwood, about 6 miles northeast of Culpeper,
and the new T. I. Martin Culpeper Municipal (later County & still later Regional) Airport opened in 1969.
The original Culpeper field continued in operation for a few more years.
It was still depicted on the 1973 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe),
and was described as having a 2,100' unpaved runway.
A circa 1970s photo by Glenn Carpenter of several light aircraft at the original Culpeper Airport.
The status of the original Culpeper Airport had changed to a private airfield
by the time of the 1975 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Ed Drury).
After slowly running out of customers, the original Culpeper field closed in 1977.
USGS topo map 1984.
The two runways of the old Culpeper Airport were still depicted on the 1985 USGS topo map,
but it was erroneously labeled "Martin Field".
A 2003 aerial view by Paul Freeman looking southeast at the site of the original Culpeper Airport.
At an unknown date, the property of the former airport was redeveloped as a golf course.
In the above 2003 aerial photo, the alignment of the former Runway 1/19 was still recognizable,
as the row of trees going diagonally from the center of the photo toward the upper-right.
The site of the original Culpeper Airport is located north of the intersection of Route 29 & Madison Road.
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