Chapman Field (airfield)

Chapman Field is a former World War I military airfield, located 4.7 mi south of South Miami, Florida. It operated as a training field for the Air Service, United States Army between 1917 until 1921. It was later used as a contract pilot training school during World War II. The airport was closed after being severely damaged by a hurricane in 1945.

Today part of the former airport is the USDA Chapman Field Subtropical Horticulture Research Station

World War I
The airport was established in 1917. During 1918, the army subsequently dredged a portion of the bayside marsh to create a marl landing field, a lagoon for water landings, and channels to Biscayne Bay. Roads were cut through the palmettoes and slash pines on the limestone ridge a mile inland. Water was pumped from underground, stored in three tanks of 20,000 to 100,000 gallon capacity, and distributed across the base by underground piping with hydrants for fire fighting. Electricity was provided by lines to Miami, and steam was generated for heat. The base was completed in September, 1918.

The Cutler Aerial Gunnery Field was a state-of-the-art facility for the Army flyers that came to complete their training in the use of guns in aircraft. Built as a model town on the high ground of a coral rock ridge, the base had a sewage system, a hospital with an operating room and an entertainment center, provided by the Knights of Columbus and the YMCA.

The coral, sand and clay landing field occupied what is now the golf course for Deering Bay. At its western edge, a row of hangars and maintenance shops sat beside the field, just east of what is now SW 60th Avenue, the entrance road into the Horticulture Research Station. Today, also within the USDA Station, an access road west of and parallel to 60th Avenue is a remnant of the old Ingraham Highway, which was relocated about three quarters of a mile to the west as the base was constructed. Ingraham Highway would eventually be renamed Old Cutler Road.

Army units assigned to Chapman Field were:
 * 16th Construction Company, July-August 1918
 * 24th Construction Company, December 1918-March 1919

On November 15 the airfield was formally named the Victor Chapman Military Reservation by Major Kenly, head of the aeronautical division, in honor of the first U. S. flier to be killed in France during World War I. Three days after the renaming ceremony, World War I ended, however construction continued until completion in March 1919.

Inter-War period
The base was declared surplus in 1921 by the War Department and was to be put up for sale. Dr. David Fairchild, a plant explorer in charge of the Bureau's Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, took interest in the abandoned base and believed that it could be developed into an "Ellis Island for plants" - a place where sensitive plants could be bred for resistance to colder temperatures prior to their introduction to areas of the northern U.S.

However no clear title to the property could be conveyed, and part of it was leased to the Department of Agriculture for a plant research station in 1923. On a portion of the remaining land outside the USDA station, the government maintained an airfield used by army reservists who practiced bombing runs over Biscayne Bay during the winter months.

During the Depression years of the early 1930s interests in Miami were hoping the War Department would develop a major air facility on the site, which would provide a considerable number of new jobs. In 1938, because of fears of possible war, Congress passed the Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program, providing free ground school to college students and free flight training for the upper 10% scholastically.

World War II
As World War II began, the Army Air Corps planned to build a major air base in Dade County. The Chapman Field site was immediately considered for revival and the effort was supported by local land owners, real estate brokers, businessmen and politicians. However, the area was rapidly developing, increasing property values and rendering the acreage prohibitively expensive for purchase. The Air Corps decided against using Chapman and instead, the development of Homestead Field began.

The facilities at Chapman Field, instead was leased to the Embry-Riddle Company in August 1942 for training of both civilian and military pilots. Civilians, including potential WASPS (Women Airforce Service Pilots) were taught at the Seaplane Base on MacArthur Causeway (named County Causeway until 1942) while written exams and Navy flight training were conducted at Chapman Field. Women seeking additional flying time for WASP approval also took training at Chapman Field. These women attended the Riddle program to build up flying time and to get ratings prior to their formal training at Sweetwater AAF, Texas. University of Miami coeds were also trained as WASP pilots.

Civil use
With the end of the war, the GI Bill of Rights made available technical training to returning vets, and a contract was given to Embry-Riddle to provide training based at Chapman Field. In the fall of 1945 a hurricane hit the Miami area and destroyed almost all of the wooden buildings used for the school. In November, 1947, the Chapman Field property that was not in possession of the USDA was declared surplus by the federal government. The University of Miami acquired 150 acres that included most of the old airfield and hangar area. Dade County received the remainder of the property to the northeast.

In 1947 a request was made by Embry-Riddle to make Chapman Field a commercial airport, but this was denied by Dade County, and the company eventually moved to Opalocka Airport when the field was subsequently closed.

Dade County had ambitious plans for Chapman Field Park in 1949, including a swimming beach, hiking trails, and a boat marina. Envisioned as a companion to Matheson Hammock, development of the park was doomed from a lack of accessibility to the property, title acquisition problems, a lack of development funds, and encroaching residential development. The county built a trash and recycling center for household trash, tree and yard cuttings and demolition debris on the northwest edge of the park, which is still in use today.

Finding the Chapman Field property either unsuitable or too expensive for its purposes, The University of Miami leased 128 acres of its land to developer Ben Cooper in 1956. The following year, after Cooper agreed to spend $250,000 in improvements to the adjacent park property, the county leased him an additional 48 acres, using the combined properties to build King’s Bay Yacht & Country Club, a semi-private golf course and clubhouse, for the neighboring community. The Club property changed hands several times over the next thirty years and eventually, Edward Easton, Armando Codina and Jeb Bush partnered to form Deering Bay Associates, redeveloping the property in 1991, now 220 acres, into the Deering Bay Yacht & Country Club.

Between 2002 and 2006, the ball fields underwent extensive remodeling, through the use of $580,000 in funds provided by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). New clay and grass infields, dugouts, batting cages, lighting and shaded bleachers have all been completed.

In November, 2008, the SFWMD Governing Board approved investing over $300,000 in additional funds to help restore the 566 acre, Chapman Field Park. The park project is intended to achieve several objectives, including: Clearing exotic vegetation, removing solid waste, re-establishing red mangroves, restoring historic wildlife habitat and improving water quality in Biscayne Bay

From the air, the outline of the drainage canals can still be seen, otherwise the land has been completely redeveloped over the years, including the construction of a golf course on the site, complete with water retention ponds.