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1919 — 1925
Six years between a look and a deed: The National Park Service's account of Smith Field fixes the ground's beginnings precisely. In 1919 the city of Fort Wayne inspected a tract on the north side — between the Cook and Ludwig roads, Lima and Coldwater roads country, some 234 acres in its modern survey — for its suitability as a municipal airport. Nothing was bought. The site was first used for pilot instruction beginning in 1923, flying going on there two years before the city owned it, and the National Register nomination records the same 1919 date as the field's likely first use by aircraft. The distinction matters because the "1919" date travels: Fort Wayne's civic summaries commonly say aviation arrived in 1919 with the opening of Smith Field, but on the federal record 1919 is the year of the inspection and the likely informal use, not of any opening. The airport — purchased, planned, and named — belongs to 1925.
Sources:
- National Park Service, "Smith Field" (American Aviation travel itinerary article) — the 1919 site inspection and pilot instruction from 1923.
- National Register of Historic Places nomination, Smith Field (William J. Decker, August 2002; NRHP ref. 02001495) — 1919 as the field's likely first use; the period of significance stated as 1919–c. 1952.