Washington-Hoover Airport

Washington-Hoover Airport
A DC-2 takes off from Washington-Hoover Airport in 1935, passing over Military Road
IATA: none ICAO: none
Summary
Owner	National Aviation Corporation
Serves	Washington metropolitan area
Location	Arlington County, Virginia

Coordinates: 38°52′N 77°03′W / 38.87°N 77.05°W / 38.87; -77.05

Washington-Hoover Airport was an airport serving the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States from 1933 to 1941. It was created by the merger of Hoover Field and Washington Airport on August 2, 1933. It was in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection of the Highway Bridge and the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway (where The Pentagon and its parking lots now stand). Washington-Hoover Airport, like its predecessors, suffered from safety problems, short runways, and little room to grow. It closed for public use in June 1941, and the United States Department of War purchased the site in September, closing it for good. Washington National Airport (now known as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport), which opened in June 1941, was built as its replacement.

Hoover Field was built in 1925 by Thomas E. Mitten, president of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company. It was constructed on Hell's Bottom, a 37.5 acres (15.2 ha) site at the foot of the Highway Bridge in Arlington County, Virginia (formerly a horse racing track) directly across the Potomac River from the city. The single sod runway was 2,400 feet (730 m) long. A single hangar, 60 feet (18 m) by 100 feet (30 m) in size, was constructed. The field was expanded, and the "new" airfield dedicated on July 16, 1926. It was named for then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, a major promoter of civil aviation.