History of Hector Airport
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The rich history of Hector International Airport dates back to the pioneer days of 1927 when Martin Hector leased the quarter of land that would become home to what we now know as "Hector International Airport". The history of Hector has been broken down into three sections: Hector Field (1927-1953)
Although the first successful airplane flight in Fargo took place in 1911, the flight occurred at the old Fairgrounds.
Northwest Airlines (founded at what is now the Minneapolis—St. Paul International Airport on September 1, 1926) began scheduled weekly flights into Fargo on February 1, 1928. This was a Minneapolis to Winnipeg flight with a stop in Fargo. Service was suspended after three months due to opposition from the Canadian government.
It was February 3, 1931, when Northwest Airways began its first passenger service to Fargo. A "giant" six passenger Hamilton Metalplane settled down on the new Fargo Airport to inaugurate air service from Minneapolis to Grand Forks and then on to Winnipeg. The commemorative envelope is shown below.
Hinton, on a mission to promote civil aviation for the Exchange Clubs of the U.S., spoke about the history of aviation. Cash prizes were given to the first 20 pilots landing in Fargo between 10 and 11 AM. The first to arrive was J.M. Bacon of Grand Forks who reportedly landed by clearing a fence by only 5 feet! He entertained the crowds with stunt flying throughout the day. Other pilots similarly thrilled the crowd but three Navy fliers from Minneapolis were reported as the best fliers of the day with their precision formation flying. Drum and bugle corps and bands from the AOUW lodge, NDAC, and high and military groups performed for the dedication and squads from the local National Guard unit marched over the field. The dedication ended with a street dance at First Avenue between Roberts Street and Broadway. Pictured in two postcards below is the original
Hector Field Terminal. The Christmas card depicts the men and women
who worked at the facility. Their names (clockwise from the upper right) are
Lloyd Jensen, Cliff Gohdes, Ken Diehl, Celia Fattore, Bill Harrison, Bob Wall,
Duane Jennings, Man Johnson, John Ewald, and Wally Kuhr.
The photograph below was taken in 1938, seven years after the dedication of Hector Field.
This picture was taken in front of the terminal building of a Northwest Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.
Hector Airport (1953-1986)In 1953, a new terminal and administration building was built at a cost of $400,000. When the city built a new terminal building in 1986, this building became an aviation office complex. The Civil Air Patrol Headquarters are also found here.
Pictured below are two aerial views of Hector Airport during this period.
Hector International Airport (1986-Present)The present terminal was built in 1986. With its construction, the terminal facility moved from the southeast corner of the airport grounds to the West central area. In 1982, Hector Field became Hector International Airport and U. S. Customs opened an office on the field in 1985. Hector International Airport completed the passenger terminal expansion/update project October 2008. The project updated the existing terminal building and added a 5th gate, 3rd baggage claim and expanded the security checkpoint area. Click here to see pictures of the completed project. Today, Hector International Airport is served by Delta, United Express, Frontier, American Eagle and Allegiant with non-stop service to nine cities. - Delta offers flights to Minneapolis and Salt Lake City utilizing Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, and Canadair aircraft.
- Allegiant operates flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix-Mesa, Los Angeles, and Orlando-Sanford utilizing McDonnell Douglas aircraft.
- American operates flights to Chicago and Dallas utilizing the Embraer and Canadair regional jet aircraft.
- Frontier operates flights to Denver utilizing Airbus aircraft. 2012 was the busiest year in
terms of total passengers for the airport. Nearly 730,000 total passengers
either enplaned or deplaned at Hector International Airport. For more news facts about
Hector International Airport please visit the news
section of the website. Thank you to Ben Burns at Wayne State
University and http://www.fargo-history.com
for this information. |
A.T. Lynner, President of the city commission, introduced Walter Hinton,
principal speaker at the dedication. Hinton, shown right, was a Navy Lieutenant
and principal pilot on the first transatlantic flight in 1919. (The U.S. Navy's
NC-4 Flying Boat made the first transatlantic flight from May 8-27, 1919.
Lieutenant Albert C. Read accompanied Hinton on the historic flight in the
two-seat airplane. The NC-4 took off from the Naval Air Station Rockaway on Long
Island, New York and after a refueling stop, engine repairs and weather delays,
landed in Lisbon, Portugal. Hinton was also the first person to pilot a plane
from North America to South America and the first to do aerial exploration of
the Amazon on a National Geographic expedition.)
- United Express offers flights to Chicago O'Hare and Denver utilizing the
Canadair and Embraer regional jet aircraft.
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