Chapman Field

Chapman Field is a former World War I military airfield, located 4.7mi 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 StationHistoryWorld War IThe 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.