Aviation in Humboldt County
Humboldters have always had an eye on the skies. Our first ventures into the air, however, didn’t involve airplanes. They involved balloons.
From the 1870s into the early 1900s, balloon ascensions were all the rage here. Thrilling and well-advertised public spectacles were held at various locations including the Samoa peninsula, Rohnerville, Blue Lake and Eureka. The balloons, filled with hot air or occasionally gas, were operated by showmen – usually called Professor something or other. Often these ascensions were accompanied by parachute descents.
These were largely entertainment spectacles, not serious attempts at air travel. However, Humboldt also made its mark in early aviation.
John Montgomery, who had been fascinated by flight and gliders since a child, moved to Humboldt in the 1890s to teach science at Mount Saint Joseph’s College which, ironically, was located on the bluff that now houses the Rohnerville airport. Some of his research and designs were appropriated by the Wright brothers, causing Montgomery to sue them for patent infringement. The suit was never settled due to Montgomery’s death in a glider accident.
Local boy and mechanic, Blaine Selvage, designed and built his own mono plane and, taking off from near Freshwater, made the county’s first powered flight in 1909. Soon airplane flights were becoming the exciting public spectacles that balloon ascensions had been. In 1912, in a much promoted flight from New Era Park on the Samoa peninsula, the pilot crossed the bay and dropped a sack of mail on the roof of the Eureka post office before circling back. Our first air mail!
In a few short years, airplanes grew from exciting novelties to weapons of war. Airplanes played an important part in the First World War, and in 1919 a number of local young flying enthusiasts formed the Humboldt Aero Club. Its leader, former Army Air Corps Lieutenant Dayton Murray, after several attempts, flew the first plane from San Francisco to Eureka. He and others then promoted aviation at fairs and events throughout the area.
It soon became clear that Humboldt needed an official airport. A number of sites were considered including Samoa, Myrtletown, Rohnerville and Gunther (now Tulawat) Island. Eventually a tract between Eureka and Arcata was chosen, and in 1929 Murray Field was officially opened. Pilots made such enthusiastic use of the space that Eureka’s mayor issued a stern warning to not fly so low as to harass residents.
Airports eventually appeared in other Humboldt communities and small scale commercial and passenger service developed. In 1927, Brizard’s store in Arcata received the county’s first shipment of commercial merchandise by air. But it was another war that brought about our next big step in aviation.
In 1939, the U.S. Navy acquired land north of McKinleyville and built an air station to defend the west coast and to help our ally in foggy Britain developing ways to disperse fog from airfields. Ours was considered one of the foggiest locale in the country. The route of the coastal highway was moved to accommodate the runway that was sometimes flanked by geysers or trenches of flaming fuel attempting to dispel fog.
Civilian Humboldters also kept their eyes on the air by volunteering as aircraft spotters. They vigilantly used decks of cards depicting airplane types so they could report the appearance of enemy aircraft over our shores. After the war, the McKinleyville site reverted to county control, and in 1946 United Airlines inaugurated the first passenger service here.
Over the years, air travel, once a pioneering novelty, became routine. Though in times of natural disasters, such as major floods or wildfires, local airports and pilots played crucial life-saving roles. Now, our century and a half of local aviation history is preserved at the Humboldt County Historical Society – where the public is invited to come investigate this and all aspects of our history. The sky is the limit!