History
The first Savannah Municipal Airport opened on 20 September 1929 with the inauguration of air service between New York City and Miami by Eastern Air Express. In 1932 a city resolution names the airport Hunter Field. A trolley car was used as the first terminal at Hunter Field in the mid 1930s. In 1940 the U.S. Army Air Corps proposed a complete takeover of Hunter Field if a war started. While the commercial airlines continued to land at Hunter Field, a decision was made to construct a second Municipal Airport in response to the increased military presence.
The City of Savannah acquired a 600 acre tract in the vicinity of Cherokee Hill, one of the highest elevations in the county, and construction of a new airfield commenced under a WPA project. Three runways were constructed running N-S, E-W, and NE-SW; each 3,600 feet long. In 1942, before the completion of this new airfield, the U.S. Army Air Corps found it necessary to take over the new facility and start additional construction to carry out their mission. They named the airfield Chatham Field and it was used until the end of World War II as a bomber base and crew training base for B-24's and fighter aircraft.
In 1948 Chatham Army Airfield was turned over to the Georgia Air National Guard and the name of the airport was renamed Travis Field, in honor of Savannah native Brigadier General. Robert F. Travis, killed in the crash of a B-29 near Fairfield-Suisun AFB, California, and his brother, Colonel William Travis. To accommodate the airlines, Travis Field received a new control tower and an airline terminal in the former base theater.
In 1958, work began on a new airline terminal. In 1962, an additional extension brought the east/west runway's length to 9,000 ft (2,700 m). Jet service by Delta Air Lines began in 1965 using the Douglas DC-9. Grumman Aircraft opened a $7.5 million Gulfstream manufacturing plant at Travis in 1967. In 1991, Delta Air Lines celebrated 50 years of service to Savannah. A new $21 million terminal building was built on the northwest corner of the airport in 1994.
A six-gate terminal built in 1960 was replaced in 1994 by the current facility. Although the airport has no direct international flights, it was renamed Savannah International in 1983, then Savannah/Hilton Head International in 2003.
Some 3,680 feet (1,120 m) from the west end of Runway 10 (the main east-west runway) are two concrete grave markers. A runway extension project placed the runway through a small family plot and the graves of the airport property's two original owners. Because the family did not want to remove and relocate the graves, the markers were placed in the asphalt runway.
Runway 10 is thought to be the only airport runway in the United States with marked gravestones in it. Federal law generally prohibits the moving of a grave without the permission of the next of kin. In this case, two graves of the Dotson Family, the earliest grave dating backed to 1857, were encountered during the construction of the runway. Since the next of kin could not be located, the graves were left undisturbed. Two additional graves are located off the runway surface.
The new 275,000 sq. ft. Terminal opened in May 1994 with 8 gates (expandable to 19 gates). The project included new roads, a new aircraft taxiway and parking apron, stormwater ponds, landscaping and a new interchange at I-95 for entry into the Airport (Exit 18-A) at mile marker 104. Total costs for the project was $68.5 million and was completed one month ahead of schedule and underbudget. It was designed by KBJ Architects
Read more about this topic: Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport
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“Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.”
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