Long Beach Airport
History of California's Oldest Municipal Airport
LGB’s early origins took flight with fabric-covered biplanes taking off and landing on the beach in the early 1900s, serving as the inspiration for greats such as Amelia Earhart to catch the flying bug. Today, the city-owned and operated airport serves as the coolest transportation gateway to Southern California—well situated halfway between the major business and tourism areas of both Orange and Los Angeles counties.
Pioneers of Flight
With the sand offering a soft landing for air balloons as early as 1905, the city's seven miles of beach initially served as Long Beach's "airport." From about 1910 to 1919, fabric-covered biplanes performed landings and takeoffs at low tides amidst the ocean spray. LGB Booms with Oil Industry
Oil was discovered on nearby Signal Hill in 1921 and the area surrounding the municipal airport experienced tremendous growth. In 1923, the Long Beach City Council purchased 150 acres near the intersection of Spring and Cherry Streets and ground was broken on Nov. 26, 1923, on the airport as we know it today. Long Beach Airport was officially dedicated on Dec. 20, 1924.
By January 1925, private plane owners were leasing space at the new municipal airport. Significant development continued when hangars and administrative facilities were built for the Army and Navy between 1928-30.
In 1938, with the help of funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), new runways were constructed and funds authorized for a new administrative building and control tower. An additional 255 acres was purchased in 1939 for a $150,000 administrative building. This new structure brought the total acreage of Daugherty Field, as the municipal airport had been christened, to 500 acres.
The rapid growth of the aviation history played a major role in the early development of the City of Long Beach, and it was the airport — along with an abundant amount of vacant adjacent land — which first attracted the attention of Donald Wills Douglas, who opened Douglas Aircraft in 1941, the same year that Long Beach was No. 1 in the country for total aircraft operations.
Historic Terminal
The Historic Terminal was scheduled for a grand opening on December 8, 1941, but the ceremony was delayed because of the attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day—instead, it was repainted in camouflage and used as a billet for soldiers and military guns. The formal opening was pushed to April 1942 to celebrate the Streamline Moderne structure designed by architects William Horace Austin and Kenneth Smith Wing. On the ground floor, there was a waiting room, ticket office, express baggage room, post office and general office. The second and third floors were used for airline and airport administrative offices, with a weather bureau and a teletype office.
Now a recognized Historic Landmark, it was an avant-garde work of architecture for its time. Among its finishing touches, a mosaic masterwork by artist Grace Clements incorporates more than a million hand cut tiles that have been carefully preserved.
Women & World War II
At the same time, millions of men were called to military duty, and women needed to perform the essential work necessary to keep the war effort going stateside. The women who responded to the call were embodied in the figure "Rosie the Riveter," whose recruitment posters proclaimed: "We Can Do It."
Long Beach played a key role in the war, both as the home of naval shipyards and Long Beach Airport. Thousands of women took jobs at the Douglas Aircraft Plant which worked round-the-clock to produce military aircraft. In 2007, Long Beach dedicated a park near the former Douglas Aircraft plant as Rosie the Riveter Park to honor the ladies’ contributions.
The airport played another critical function in World War II as the home of the Army Air Corps 6th Ferrying Group Air Transport Command, utilizing civilian women pilots known as the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Squadron (WAFS) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). They were at the center of ferrying all military aircraft produced in Southern California.
Barbara Jane (Erickson) London, squadron commander for the 6th, was the only woman to receive the Air Medal for her distinguished service, having ferried a P-47, P-51 and C-47 over 2,000 miles in just five days. In 1948, she was commissioned a major in the Air Force Reserve. Long Beach Airport’s campus includes Barbara London Drive, a roadway named in her honor.
Also around this time, the Hughes H-4 Hercules, a prototype wooden flying boat more commonly known simply as the Spruce Goose, was designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company for use during WWII. It was not completed, however, until 1947, when it made one brief flight off Long Beach’s coast before being put on public display. It was kept in Long Beach from 1980 to 1992 but is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in Oregon.
Civil Air Patrol cadets are pictured during a tour of the Sixth Ferrying Group, Squadron 911-4, at Long Beach Army Airfield.
Post-War Manufacturing & Modernizations
Well past the war years, both military and commercial airplane manufacturing kept going strong, with the merger of Douglas with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in 1967 and the company’s first DC-10 taking flight in 1970. In 1991, LGB celebrated the first flight of a Long Beach-built C-17 Globemaster III. Boeing later merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, carrying on production of the C-17 until 2015.
LGB’s growth, as well as a growing city population, necessitated the revolutionary adoption of one of the first noise ordinances in the country in 1981. And, soon after, as smaller capacity aircraft were phased out in favor of large jets, Long Beach added a new concourse and pre-boarding lounge immediately south of the terminal building in 1984.
The historic terminal was named a historical landmark by the City of Long Beach in 1990.
Present Day
From its start as a pioneer in aviation to today, Long Beach Airport never stops innovating.
Our Phase I – Terminal Area Improvement Program, which included $100 million in various priority projects, culminated with the completion of our award-winning indoor-outdoor passenger concourse in 2012. The comfortable space for passengers features modern design elements, local eateries anda post-security garden. In 2020, Long Beach Airport (LGB) began the $110 million Phase II — Terminal Area Improvement Program to make strategic pre-security enhancements. As part of that effort, two major components were completed in the Spring of 2022, including the new Ticketing Lobby and Checked Baggage Inspection System.
Long Beach Airport and its tenants also are committed to operating in an environmentally responsible manner, minimizing the impact of our business on the environment and surrounding community with methods that are socially responsible, scientifically based and economically sound. In 2021, Airports Council International, the leading industry group for airports, certified Long Beach Airport with a Level 2 rating in the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) Program.
Owned and operated by the City of Long Beach, LGB covers 1,166 acres and has three runways, the longest being 10,000 feet, used by major passenger airlines and cargo services. It is a hub of corporate activity with more than 200 businesses located on airport property, including nearly 100 acres of mid-rise business park and hotel uses, several top-rate fixed base operators, and specialty aviation service companies. It’s also one of the world's busiest airports in terms of general aviation activity.
A beloved community asset and economic driver, LGB is proud to celebrate its 100th anniversary on Nov. 26, 2023, recognizing its storied role in the aviation history of yesteryear and today. Stay tuned for details about special 100th anniversary events, including a special 100th anniversary edition of Festival of Flight, which is a public event that attracts more than 10,000 attendees annually.
Historical Timeline at a Glance
1911 – Cal Rogers’ first transcontinental “Vin Fiz” flight lands on the beach
1919 – Earl Daugherty opens Daugherty School of Aviation
1923 – Ground breaks on Daugherty Field
1925 – Two-day airmail service starts between Long Beach and New York
1928 – Field lit for night use, becoming first illuminated airport in the country
1936 – Civil Aeronautics Authority activates control tower
1938 – American, United, TWA and Western airlines announce service
1941 – Historic Terminal dedicated (official opening in 1942)
1941 – Douglas Aircraft opens factory
1941 – No. 1 airport in country for total aircraft operations
1942 – WASP Barbara London becomes only woman awarded Air Medal for WWII
1957 – Douglas Aircraft starts commercial DC-8 assembly line
1970 – McDonnell Douglas Corporation’s first DC-10 takes off
1981 – Noise Ordinance adopted as one of the first in the country
1990 – Historic Terminal building designated as Cultural Heritage Landmark
1991 – First flight of the Long Beach-built C-17 Globemaster III
2012 – New concourse building opens
2015 – Last C-17 Globemaster III manufactured
2022 – New Ticketing Lobby opens
Barbara Erickson London, a ferry pilot with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), was the only woman awarded an Air Medal in WWII for her heroism. She was the commanding officer for Long Beach’s 6th Ferrying Group at Daugherty Field, and she flew 8,000 miles in one 10-day period.
Barbara London Drive on the campus of Long Beach Airport was named in her honor in 2006.
Learn more about the local legend here: Barbara London - World War II Hero.
Video clips of Barbara London interview:
Aviatior & Navigator 817 KB .mwv file
WAFS Military Affiliation 1.54 MB .mwv file
Distinguished Veteran 500 KB .mwv file
Long Beach celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first transcontinental flight in 2011. To commemorate this history making flight, Long Beach hosted events across the city. Please click on the links below to explore more about the pilot behind the story and the adventure of a lifetime.
