In 1923, the Air Service, a part of the U.S. Army, published and distributed a basic how-to manual on airport construction for America’s cities.  This publication, titled “Airways and Landing Fields,” contained information on the Model Airway…

The story of the failed Lake Erie International Jetport is one that generated a flurry of political interest but ultimately succumbed to the grandeur of its own ambition. Mayor Ralph Locher first introduced the idea of a new airport for Cleveland in…

Tens of thousands of people lining the shore of Lake Erie to watch a plane go by: while the idea seems ludicrous today, this is exactly what happened on August 31, 1910 when pioneering aviator Glenn Curtiss took off from Euclid Beach Park and headed…

The Marjorie Rosenbaum Plaza at Burke Lakefront Airport celebrates the "Golden Age of Aviation" when Cleveland hosted the National Air Races eleven times between 1929-1949. It was during this era that Cleveland was referred to as the…

Bill Jack and Ralph Heintz formed Jack & Heintz in 1940 in Palo Alto, California. They soon moved their company to the Cleveland area, building a small plant at 17600 Broadway Avenue in Maple Heights. The company made airplane parts, and it…

The National Air Races finally came to Cleveland Municipal (now Cleveland-Hopkins International) Airport in 1929. Local businessmen Louis W. Greve and Frederick C. Crawford played a big role in bringing the event to Cleveland. Both men were…

When Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport opened on July 1, 1925 it became the first municipally owned airport in the country. City Manager William R. Hopkins took much of the credit for this feat, and the airport was named for him on his 82nd…