The Marine Division

The History of Baltimore Municipal Airport

The Seaplane Terminal

Only five years later, the Baltimore City government decided that a more modern facility was needed, one that could accommodate state-of-the-art land and sea planes. This would replace Logan Field.

Mayor William Broening chose a 360-acre site on the shores of the Patapsco River and Colgate Creek, practically across the street from the field it was replacing. According to the book "Maryland Aloft,” by Preston, Lanman, and Breihan, construction of the airport began in 1929. The construction project coincided with a harbor dredging effort, so tons of harbor silt was available for fill material and an artificial point into the Patapsco River was created for the runways. But this gift of silt for the new airport's construction proved to be a fiasco, as the fill failed to harden according to predictions, and it dragged out the construction of the land-plane side of the airport beyond the end of the decade, requiring additional loans and millions of dollars of new federal grants.

In spite of the difficulties with the land-plane portion of the airport, a seaplane ramp was dedicated in 1932. Later, a seaplane terminal was constructed, providing hangar space, offices, a passenger concourse, lounge, and observation deck. Pan American Airways began operating from the Baltimore seaplane terminal in 1938.

By 1948, the popularity of the seaplane had waned, as decent runway facilities were built for the major cities. The beautiful and temperamental flying boats fell into disuse. So did Baltimore's
seaplane terminal.

The Land Plane Terminal

The land-plane terminal at Baltimore Municipal Airport was built in 1940 in the Art-Deco style. It was constructed of brown brick, with two-story wings flanking an octagonal section.

The WPA (Works Progress Administration - a New Deal agency created in 1935 to combat unemployment during the Great Depression by employing millions of people on public works projects) funded the construction of a Maryland National Guard hangar which consisted of a steel-frame hangar with adjoining offices and shops. However, with the onset of WW2, higher military priorities prevented the Maryland National Guard from moving into their purpose-built facilities at Harbor Field until 1946.

After a prolonged construction period, Baltimore's Municipal Airport was finally dedicated on November 16, 1941. But by this point, only three airlines served the airport, and all normal civilian traffic was suspended in 1942 when the War Department took over the field.

In 1950, the much larger Friendship Airport (eventually renamed Baltimore Washington International Airport) was dedicated south of Baltimore, with purpose-built runways that were sized to accommodate the coming jet airliners. This doomed the older airport, which was renamed Harbor Field, as all airline operations relocated to Friendship Airport. During the 1950s HarborField remained an Air Guard base and continued to serve private pilots and business aviation.

In 1958, the city received $4.1 million for the airport, which was transferred to the Maryland Port Authority for conversion into a marine terminal, still operating today as the Dundalk Marine Terminal. On December 31, 1960, the Baltimore Municipal Airport was closed.