Anecdotes, facts and a slide show were combined Sunday to provide some local residents with the history of a town landmark.
Doug Eyre, a Chapel Hill resident and former University professor, gave a presentation at the Chapel Hill Public Library about the history of the Horace Williams Airport.
The airport sits on a tract of land that has been owned by the University since May 1940, about 1 1/2 miles from the main campus. It has been the topic of much recent debate, as it is located on the proposed site of Carolina North, UNC’s satellite campus and research park.
Eyre’s lecture chronicled the airport’s history until about the time it was purchased by the University. He also welcomed questions and input from his audience, which gathered in the library’s meeting room.
“When these opportunities come up, you got to grab them,” Eyre said of the decision to buy the land for the airport.
He also spoke of the key players involved in the airport’s evolution.
The economic prosperity of the 1920s nurtured a growing interest in aviation, Eyre said. Out of that interest grew a private airport, which got its roots when Charlie Martindale purchased the tract of land in 1928.
The 1930s and ’40s brought attempts to commercialize the land, known as Martindale Field.
But near the outset of World War II, UNC and Duke University received federal funds to develop a flight training program at the airport, Eyre said.
