A vintage shot of the control tower
A current view of the control tower
Used by permission of John & Mike Del Gaudio
During the first couple of years of the 1920's, a group of airplane owners, through their spokesman, Thornton E. Hamlin, made an appeal to the Glendale Chamber of Commerce to assist them in securing a landing field where private hangers could be erected, as well as servicing facilities and manufacture of aircraft.
A Chamber committee consisting of City Manager W. H. Reeves, Roy L. Kent, and W. E. Hewitt approached John D. Radcliffe, a property owner who had a 33 acre site south of the Southern Pacific right-of-way and at the southern end of Grandview Avenue (now where the Golden State Freeway and Ventura Freeway meet), about purchasing his property. A short-term option was reached at $2,000 per acre.
The City Council called a special meeting. On December 9, 1922, they gave their approval to the purchase, at the price of $66,000, payable with $16,500 down, and three additional like payments.
The city immediately began clearing the land and built a paved runway. However, their ownership of the property was shortlived due to a threatened lawsuit. The sponsers of the threatened lawsuit put together a syndicate, including Dr. T. C. Young, A. L. Eastman, W. E. Hewitt, Peter L. Ferry, and Roy L. Kent, and took control of the airport, paying the city in full for all funds already paid out.
Shortly thereafter, private hangers began appearing, among them the Kinner Motor Company.
The management of the airport was placed under the direction of Maj. C. C. Moseley, one of the founders of Western Air Lines.
The Public Service Department purchased 13 acres of the airport property because of the water.
For airport expansion, new capital was needed, so the remaining 20 acres were sold to Edward Spicer who started a new development on the property. He purchased additional acreage until there was about 175 acres on which he erected permanent buildings and increased the airports industrial use. Then, in 1929, the facility was sold to Curtiss-Wright for about $2,000,000.
On Washington's birthday in 1929, the Grand Central Air Terminal was dedicated.
The first airline service from Southern California to New York was from the airport, piloted by Charles A. Lindbergh.
In 1934, Maj. Moseley leased the field and facilities from Curtiss-Wright. Later, he purchased the property.
In 1945, he changed the name of the technical school operated at the airport from Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute to Cal-Aero Technical Institute.
In 1959, the airport was closed because it was too small for the larger jet planes. Development was begun on the Grand Central Industrial Centre. All that remains of the original airport is the control tower building.
A current view of the control tower
Used by permission of John & Mike Del Gaudio
"Bright Eyes" (Fox 1934) Directed by: David Butler. Cast: Shirley Temple, James Dunn, Jane Darwell, Judith Allen, Lois Wilson, Charles Sellon, Walter Johnson, Jane Withers.
"Hats Off" (Grand National 1937) Directed by: Boris Petroff. Cast: Mae Clarke, John Payne, Helen Lynd, Luis Alberni, Richard Gallagher, Franklin Pangborn, Robert Middlemass.
"Hollywood Hotel" (Warner Bros 1937) Directed by: Busby Berkeley. Cast: Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Benny Goodman, Raymond Paige, Hugh Herbert, Ted Healy, Glenda Farrell, Johnnie Davis, Louella Parsons, Alan Mowbray, Mabel Todd, Frances Langford, Jerry Cooper, Duane Thompson.
"Sky Giant" (RKO 1938) Directed by: Lew Landers. Cast: Richard Dix, Chester Morris, Joan Fontaine, harry Carey, Paul Guilfoyle, Robert Strange, Max Hoffman Jr.
"Sky Raiders" (Universal 1941) Directed by: Ford Beebe & Ray Taylor. Cast: Donald Woods, Kathryn Adams, Robert Armstrong, Billy Halop, Jacqueline Dalya, Reed Hadley, Eduardo Ciannelli.
"Sherlock Holmes in Washington" (Universal 1943) Directed by: Roy William Neill. Cast: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Marjorie Lord, Henry Daniell, George Zucco, John Archer, Gavin Muir, Edmund MacDonald, Don Terry.
