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James Clements Airport Administration Building, hangar in background. (Courtesy Geraldine Higgs) BAY CITY TAKES OFF: James Clements Airport Symbol of Aviation History
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A stranger driving by on River Road might think: "that's nothing but an old airport."
But that old airport symbolizes everything about Bay City's hidden history as a place that attracted technological pioneers whose feats deserve to be recalled with pride.
*One of the nation's first aircraft flew here;
*Air mail service in the area began here;
*Air passenger service "Fifty-five minutes to Cleveland" started here at James Clements in 1928 with amphibian planes operated by a forerunner of American Airlines;
*In fact -- believe it or not -- the Space Age actually was launched by the U.S. Army Air Corps at James Clements Airport with a Dowmetal balloon ascension by French aeronaut Jean Piccard into the stratosphere in 1933.
*And, James Clements Airport's Administration Building was headquarters for the pre-World War II U.S. Air Corps maneuvers in Michigan with squadrons practicing gunnery in preparation for combat against Axis planes in Europe.
Bay Cityans were entertained by practice aerial "dogfights" over the city 6 June 1936 climaxing the exercises before the planes departed for Selfridge Field.
The land on River Road where small planes have landed for more than a century first was site of the 160 acre farm of the North American Chemical Company, owned by the United Alkali Company.
How that firm came from Liverpool to Bay City and transformed the former McGraw Lumber Mill into a huge factory making explosives for the British Army in World War I is one of the subjects of a new book, "Mysteries of Skull Island & the Alkali," published by Historical Press L.L.C.
In 1912, officials of the British-owned chemical firm allowed Bay City musician Lionel DeRemer to use the farm as a base for his Wright B Flyer, thus jump-starting aviation in this area.
DeRemer's "early bird" contraption had been purchased from Orville and Wilbur Wright of Dayton, Ohio, who had been flying since their first short hop in North Carolina in 1903 and had been continually improving their craft.
"Nine Years After Kitty Hawk Bay County Takes to the Sky," reads a caption below a photo of DeRemer at the controls of his plane on the cover of "Aloft" by Geraldine Higgs, Bay City's premier aviation historian.
Lionel and his father Nello, a barber here, went to Dayton's Sims Field, met the Wright brothers and purchased a used Wright "B" Flyer, according to Mrs. Higgs's research recounted in her book. The century in aviation since those historic days when the Flyer rattled across corn rows was recalled by James Clements Airport supporters from the Valley Aero Club at the Bay County Historical Museum's Second Saturday presentation last week.
The presentation by Charles Binder, retired Federal Court magistrate, and other airport supporters drew a large, enthusiastic crowd, according to Mrs. Higgs.
Among the other "early birds" who made aviation history in Bay City was Henry Dora, who as a boy rode his bike to Saginaw to see the Wright brothers. Wrote Mrs. Higgs: "As pay for helping them unload their 'Flyer' from the horse drawn dray, he got a short plane ride."
Dora entered World War I hoping to become a pilot but was stymied by lack of formal education, as most fliers were "officers and gentlemen." Henry then used his mechanical ability to become a motorcycle courier at the front in France.
Dora was one of most active local "barnstormers," working the county fair circuit with his surplus World War I "Jenny" and taking his life in his hands with stunt flying.
When Bay City flying "ace" Les Kefgen returned from the war and became president of the Bay City Chamber of Commerce, he promoted the idea of a local airport.
A U.S. Post Office contract for a northern air mail service terminal was a lure. More prosperous Saginaw, chief rival for the contract, sent a delegation to Washington, D.C., to delay a decision until they could ready a landing field and bid for the contract.
Bay City's first potential airport location, between Henry Street and Euclid Avenue on the undeveloped West Side, failed when the Chamber's $25,000 offer was rejected, according to Mrs. Higgs.
Kefgen's committee settled on the airport site where Dora and DeRemer had first flown the Wright, just outside the city limits on the farm. Thompson Aeronautical Co. was awarded the contract and chose Bay City over Saginaw, which was still seeking a site. In 1927 William Clements committed to donate $10,000 and he and financier James E. Davidson jointly purchased the farm for $18,000 from Consumer Power Company, which had bought the North American Chemical Company.
Dora headed crews who pumped the field, dynamited the stumps and leveled the uneven corn field for airplane landings.
The first airmail was delivered to the muddy field 17 July 1928 by a black and gold Stinson Detroiter plane emblazoned "Miss Bay City."
Hardware man Frank Stover took 16mm movies as the mail sack was handed to Clements. Thousands cheered and the Newsboys Band struck up "America." Somehow Saginaw had built a field and was one of nine Michigan cities to receive their first airmail deliver that historic day.
The "greenhouse style" hangar that stands today was built in 1929 with $38,000 donated by the public and tycoons Clements, Davidson and Otto Sovereign. Clements had the administration building built by the Henry C. Weber Construction Co. as a memorial to his son, James, a flier who had died of the flu in France, and all veterans of World War I.
"Bay City had a first class airport including beacon and flood lights contributed by the city government. The lights were restored in 1996 in a joint Valley Aero Club and city project," concluded Mrs. Higgs.
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mdoloresbarron Says:
On November 15, 2014
at 10:59 AM
There was also a book written by a dentist detailing Dora and DeRemer's contributions..
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Dave Rogers |
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