Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) military airfield, located northwest of the city of Coronado, California, on the northern part of the Coronado Peninsula across the bay from San Diego, California.
This airfield played a fundamental role in the development of United States military aviation in the period before and during World War I. Originally it was The Curtiss School of Aviation, founded by Glenn Curtiss. In November 1912, the Army established a permanent flying school on the island. It served as a major flying school during World War I, and remained active as an Army Air Corps facility after the war. The facility was transferred to the United States Navy on 31 January 1939.
Today, Rockwell Field forms the southeastern quadrant of what is today the Naval Air Station, North Island (NAS North Island). The facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1991.
History
The field was originally called the Signal Corps Aviation School. It was the first U.S. Army school to provide flying training for military pilots, and North Island was the school's first permanent location. The Aviation School was officially established on North Island in 1912.
In 1910, climatic conditions, flat terrain, good beaches, and protected stretches of water attracted Glenn H. Curtiss, aviation pioneer and Wright Brothers' competitor, to North Island, where he founded an aviation school. At that time, North Island really was an island, separated from South Coronado on the Silver Strand peninsula by a narrow bight of water. Both North Island and South Coronado were privately owned, but North Island had not been developed. In January 1911, Curtiss signed a contract with the owner of North Island to use the land for three years for a flying school, which was established in February 1911. Curtiss invited the Army and the Navy to send officers to his new school for flying training. The Army sent three airmen to the Curtiss school in early 1911, but they were ordered to Texas before completion of their training. During the winter of 1911 to 1912, the Navy sent three pilots to the Curtiss school for flying training.
The Army's Signal Corps Aviation School relocated the Curtiss airplane group from its original location at College Park, Maryland, to North Island during November to December 1912, instead of to Augusta, Georgia, as it had the previous winter. The Wright group, organized as the 1st Provisional Aero Squadron, came to North Island after mobilizing in Texas in March. The Army flyers established a tent camp at the north end of North Island, and for about a year, the Signal Corps Aviation School rented airplanes and hangars constructed for the Curtiss school. None of the buildings from this early period, constructed on the north end of the island, still exist. Existing historic and architecturally significant buildings reflect the use and development of Rockwell Field from 1918 to 1935.
On 20 July 1917, the Signal Corps Aviation School was named Rockwell Field in honor of 2nd Lt. Lewis C. Rockwell, killed in the crash of Wright Model B, Signal Corps 4, at College Park, Maryland, on 28 September 1912. Also in July, the United States Congress authorized the President to proceed with the taking of North Island for Army and Navy aviation schools. There was a need for trained military pilots as the United States had entered World War I earlier in the year. President Woodrow Wilson signed an Executive Order in August 1917 for condemnation of the land, which was still privately owned. The Army turned over the north end of the island to the Navy and relocated to the south end of North Island, the location of the Rockwell Field Historic District. The Navy's first occupancy of North Island occurred on 8 September 1917, but Congress did not authorize the purchase of North Island, for $6,098,333, until July 1919. The Army selected well-known Detroit industrial architect, Albert Kahn, to develop a site and building designs. Permanent construction of Kahn's design began in mid-1918. During World War I, Rockwell Field provided training for many of the pilots and crews sent to France. It also was the source of men and aircraft for the 6th Aero Squadron, and the 7th Aero Squadrons, which established the first military aviation presence in Hawaii and the Panama Canal Zone, respectively.