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If you or I had a nickel
for every time someone said or thought "but where's the
airport?" while traveling to or from Philadelphia, one of us would
certainly have a boxcar or three worth of nickels! Yes Virginia, there
once was an airport there... the main airport serving the Delaware
Valley, as a matter of fact!
The question of having a
commercial airport in Camden arose in the 1920s. With the main postal
facility in the area being at 9th and Market in Philadelphia, and the
desirability of being close to Center City Philadelphia and the booming
City of Camden quite evident, the question then became where an airport could be
located that would be safe for takeoff and landing, as well as being
reasonably accessible to the travelers arriving and departing by air.
It was determined that the Pennsauken township location that became
Central Airport filled the bill perfectly.
Philadelphia built a
facility in the south of the city, but it failed to be a commercial
success due to the distance from the city's downtown as well as being
far from any other travel connections. Camden, being close to heart of
Philadelphia not only by ferry, but by the massive new suspension bridge
then under construction, next attracted the attention of
developers intent on developing a facility to take advantage of the new
technology.
Initial locations proposed
included the Harrison Avenue garbage dump along the Delaware River in Cramer
Hill, and what was then called the Moro Phillips tract, named after
the famous 19th-century industrialist who had owned it, bounded by the
north bank of the Cooper River, River Road, and State Street. Both of
these sites were deemed unsafe due to the presence of smoke stacks from
nearby factories and industrial sites. One must visualize in the context
of the early 1920s... the planes were smaller and flew at lower
altitudes than today, and those factories were burning coal..... they
called them smokestacks for a reason.
A solution presented
itself with the building of the Delaware River Bridge, and the
construction of a new highway along the north bank of the Cooper River
from the Federal Street Bridge to Pennsauken, where it would link to
what was then known as State Highway 25, Crescent Boulevard, the Marlton
Pike, and Kaighn Avenue. This highway enabled residents of the
relatively new suburban towns along the White Horse Pike to drive
straight into Philadelphia while avoiding traffic in Camden, and began
the development of the previously underdeveloped Delaware Township. A
new invention, the traffic circle, was set up at the intersection of
Crescent Boulevard, Kaighn
Avenue, a short connecting road to the
previously existing Marlton Pike, and the new road, which in time became
known as The Admiral Wilson Boulevard, in honor of Camden native son and
World War I hero Henry Braid Wilson Jr.
A piece of undeveloped
ground along the north bank of the Cooper River, east of Crescent
Boulevard and South of Marlton Pike, attracted the interest of those
desiring an airport's construction. Joseph
H. Fisher had once operated a farm on this land. Level ground, close to everything by
the other great new invention of the time, the automobile, and with nary
a smokestack close to the site... in fact, there were few three story
buildings within a 1.5 mile radius.... the site was chosen for the next
jewel to Camden's crown... the Central Airport. Needless to say, the new
traffic circle quickly became known as the Airport Circle.
Once opened for operations
in September of 1929, Central Airport would be the prime air connection
between the Philadelphia metropolitan area and the world for about
twelve years. However, by 1938 the end was in sight. The development of
larger airplanes such as the Douglas
DC-3 meant the need for takeoff and landing strips longer than those
at Central Airport, and the construction of the much larger Philadelphia
International Airport doomed the field. Once the Philadelphia Airport
opened in June of 1940, the four airlines then serving Philadelphia
through Central Airport (American, Eastern, TWA, and United) left the
Pennsauken facility behind, terminating their operations at the then
obsolete field.
In it's heyday, Central
Airport saw the comings and goings of the famous, and in some cases the
would-be notorious. Airmail would arrive at Central Airport, and be
transported by autogyro, a precursor of the modern helicopter, to the
roof of the United States Postal Office at 9th and Market Streets in
Philadelphia. In the 1940s, Central Airport served as a training
facility for naval and marine aviators, who learned takeoff and landing
skills in yellow Stearman N2S-3 bi-planes. In an early attempt to
legalize gambling in New Jersey, a dog track operated nearby in 1934, a
swimming pool operated several years, and there was an outdoor arena
that featured professional and amateur boxing matches in the mid- and
late-1930s.
Most notable among the
businesses that appeared around the airport were two nightclubs which
are well remembered long after they were gone. Weber's hof Brau was
located on the northbound side of Crescent Boulevard adjacent to the
airport. With food, dancing, and entertainment, Weber's hof Brau was a
popular nightspot until it was destroyed by fire in 1951. On the
opposite side of the Airport Circle was Camden native son Neil
Deighan's spot. Simply called Neil Deighan's, the club was briefly
known as Cub Shaguire before being renamed The Pub, under which name it
has operated under since the early 1950s. The Airport also lent its name
to the Airport Pontiac car dealership, and the Airport Rug and Carpet
Company.
After World War II, usage
of the airport declined to the point where it was no longer viable.
Camden Central Airport was still depicted as an active airfield on the
1955 Washington Sectional Chart, which described it as having three
runways, with the longest being a 2,800' asphalt strip. However, the
field was apparently on its last legs, as it was described as
"unattended". Camden Central Airport was apparently closed at
some point between 1955-57, as it was not depicted at all on the July
1957 NY Sectional Chart, and it was labeled "Abandoned
Airport" on the 1961 Philadelphia Local Aeronautical Chart. The
property was sold, and was redeveloped as an industrial park. Roads
running through the park such as Central Highway and Airport Highway,
give clue to its heritage.
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