The first airfield in the US to be called airport was just closed, as the Courier Post reports. In 1919, the term airport was coined for Bader Field in Atlantic City because it was bordered on three sides by water.
Get Flight Wisdom by email Practical answers on air travel, delays, cancellations, refunds, baggage and more
Every U.S. President from Thomas Roosevelt through Gerald Ford had flown there. The Civil Air Patrol was founded there in 1941. It stopped commercial flights in 1990, but has been used by mostly by amateur pilots in recent years. The city believes the land can be put to better use.
In the 1970s, there were over 100 airports in New Jersey. The number is now down to 38. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association fought futilely to keep the airport open.
“It was an ideally situated municipal airport, immediately adjacent to the downtown area, just an excellent facility for people who either had business in Atlantic City, or more recently since the casinos arrived, tourists,” said Chris Dancy, a spokesman for the Maryland-based group.
It is truly the end of an era.
