Atlantic City Free Public Library

Bader Field and Planes. (1969, H009.387.7Bad410; ACFPL Heston Collection)

The name "airport" was coined in Atlantic City to designate its airfield, Edward L. Bader Field, which was accessible from both air and water. No actual record exists for who is responsible for the name, but two stories exist. Henry Woodhouse, one of the owners of the field is said to have come up with the name when it opened on May 10, 1919. A second story tells of a newspaperman, William B. Dill, editor of The Press of Atlantic City, first using the term. What is known is that immediately following the 1910 Atlantic City Aero Show, in which the airplanes took off from the beach, famous air-traveler Augustus Post wrote an article entitled "Atlantic City, the New Air Port". On September 30, 2006, Bader Field closed. At that time, it was the oldest operational municipal airport in the country. There are no definite plans for the property at this time.

Related Resources in the Heston Collection

Frank Butler. Book of the Boardwalk. Atlantic City, NJ: Haines and Co., 1952.

Col. Lester E. Hopper. Civil Air Patrol Oral History Program: Interview of Ms. Mairlou Crescenzo Eggenweiler. El Paso, Texas, 1984.

Atlantic City Airports: clippings, 1941-1970. Atlantic City, NJ: Atlantic City Free Public Library, 1994.

Subject Files:

Aviation - Airports and Airlines – Bader Field
Aviation History
Aviation History - Aero Show Meet 1910
History of Atlantic City – Firsts

Archival Collections:
ACFPL Collection of Atlantic City Photographs, Aero Show Meet, 1910

ACFPL Collection of Atlantic City Photographs, Civil Air Patrol

Please see the Heston Collection Indexes at the Reference Desk to locate other photographs and postcards on this subject.