MPS Taunton MRA Opened 1919 | Built 1919 NRHP Reference # 84002141 Added to NRHP 5 July 1984 | |
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Similar Watson Pond State Park, Lake Rico, Old Colony Historical Society, Wellfleet Drive‑In Theater, Lake Sabbatia | ||
King airfield hangar top 6 facts
King Airfield Hangar is a historic airplane hangar on Middleboro Avenue in Taunton, Massachusetts near the Taunton Municipal Airport. It is a wood-frame structure, roughly 80 by 80 feet (24 m × 24 m), with a curved corrugated metal roof.
The hangar was built in 1919 as part of "King's Field", one of the first private airports in New England, and is its oldest surviving remnant. The airfield was built by Henry King on his 50-acre (20 ha) dairy farm. King and his family established a flying school with the purchase of a Curtiss Jenny World War I surplus airplane. The Kings also offered sightseeing tours over the Taunton area.
In the 1940s and 50s the family acquired a small fleet of aircraft and operated an air taxi service. Local businesses also hangared their planes at the airfield. In 1959, the main runway was paved and improved to 3,400 feet through the Federal Airport Aid Program, and the airfield was renamed Taunton Municipal Airport. A small portion of the original farm where the 1919 hangar is located was left undeveloped.
The historic hangar was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.