Swan Island Municipal Airport
| Swan Island Municipal Airport | |
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| Summary | |
| Airport type | military/public |
| Owner/Operator | Port of Portland |
| Serves | Portland, Oregon |
| Opened | 1926 (USPS), 1927 (commercial) |
| Closed | 1946 |
| Passenger services ceased | 1940 |
| Elevation AMSL | 20 ft / 6.1 m |
| Coordinates | 45°33′42″N 122°42′53″W / 45.56167°N 122.71472°WCoordinates: 45°33′42″N 122°42′53″W / 45.56167°N 122.71472°W |
The Swan Island Municipal Airport was a joint civil-military airport that was operational in the Overlook neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. It opened officially in 1927, but the United States Postal Service had been using the field for a year. After the Portland–Columbia Super Airport was completed in the late 1930s, Swan Island Municipal Airport had little use since its runways were too small for newer aircraft and the low altitude made it difficult to land and take-off. It was operational for nearly two decades, but due in part to the advances in aviation, the airport became obsolete soon after its construction. During World War II, the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation was located at Swan Island and when they became obsolete after the war was over the Port of Portland built a dry dock on the airport site which continues to serve as one of their facilities.
Oakley G. Kelly, the commanding officer at Pearson Airfield in Vancouver, Washington, was one of the first to seriously propose using Swan Island as an airfield. In 1926, the Port of Portland, assisted by the United States Postal Service (USPS), organized a committee to look for a location for a new airport in Portland. The group chose Swan Island which was a peninsula along the Willamette River. Objections over the airport started almost immediately, as postal workers who were using Pearson Airfield claimed Swan Island might flood. A plan was drawn up to raise the elevation of Swan Island to keep floodwater out. W. L. Thompson spearheaded the commission and was the project's chief engineer. James H. Polhemus was the Port of Portland's general manager and chief engineer at the time.
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