A few relatively small airfields existed in the Puget Sound area during the 1920s and 1930s including Boeing Field, Bryn Mawr Airfield, and Tacoma Municipal Airfield. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, however, local airfields were primarily limited to military use. In 1942, the Civil Aviation Authority offered $1 million to any local government willing to build a new regional airport. The Port of Seattle agreed to take on the project later that same year. A few different locations were considered including the area at Bow Lake halfway between Seattle and Tacoma. Pierce County and Tacoma offered $100,000 to help build the airport if that site was chosen. On March 30, 1942 the Port of Seattle approved Bow Lake as the site of the new airport. Roughly 906.9 acres were surveyed and the Port spent $637,019 buying up land from 264 individual owners. Workers broke ground in 1943 and the Seattle‐Tacoma Airport was dedicated on October 31, 1944 at a cost of over $4,000,000. In the early years, the airport terminal consisted of a somewhat primitive Quonset hut. However, the Port soon began making plans for a proper terminal. Thirty‐thousand turned out on July 9, 1949 to witness the dedication of the new terminal. Among the first airlines operating out of the airport were Northwest Airlines and United Airlines. Western Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Pan American Airways also operated flights out of Seattle‐Tacoma Airport but primarily still utilized Boeing Field. That year, Northwest Airlines began offering direct flights…Open full document
Notes
This is a great thumbnail history of the airport’s evolving relationship with the Port Of Seattle. Use it to help you learn about previous citizen groups who have successfully (and unsuccessfully) opposed the Port’s almost constant expansions.
Provided courtesy of the Highline Historical Society.