“Suit Seeks to Block Borrowing of Funds to Extend Bowman Field” was a headline on the front page of the Sept. 21, 1940, edition of the Courier Journal which featured the effort to create a major airfield at the existing Bowman site.
The lawsuit, brought by several nearby neighbors, “challenged the authority of the Louisville and Jefferson County Air Board to borrow money with which to purchase additional land and suggested the field be relocated to a more advantageous site.”
A little more than a week later, Sept. 30, 1940, “the Louisville and Jefferson County Air Board met in special session to discuss selection of a site for a new $500,000 airport … One of the five sites under consideration is on Crittenden Drive, and another at the Home for the Aged and Infirm, St. Helens” (which is in Shively).
By Dec. 24, 1940, the Air Board was seeking to acquire 571 acres “which lie between Preston Street and Crittenden Drive”. An "adequate auxiliary field … is proposed for the new airport that is indispensable to the city in obtaining transportation by air. It also is hoped the new field, selected because of its possibilities as a factory site, might entice airplane plants to the city.”
Only avid readers likely noticed this small but significant news article July 12, 1941, where the Courier Journal announced: “Board Names New Airport ‘Standiford Field.’
"The 571-acre tract, upon which the $1,500,000 airport is being built, was part of the 1,400 acres owned by Dr. Elisha David Standiford when he died in 1887. Dr. Standiford … gave up the practice of medicine to become first a farmer, and then an industrialist being president of … the L. & N. Railroad and then a politician, serving one term in the Congress. The airport, off Crittenden Drive, south of Phillips Lane, is expected to be ready for use by October 1 (1941)."
In about a year, the Air Board attempted to expand Bowman Field in September 1940 and by October 1941, a new airport was being opened. Why the urgency? Within the airport news articles as well as adjacent news reports, the drumbeat of world war was increasing. London was being bombed regularly, and the draft was underway with 1,435 Kentuckians called to military service by January 1941. This new airport, the newspaper noted, might be needed by the defense department.
And none too soon. Eight months after completion, May 1, 1942, this bold headline appeared on the front page: “Curtiss to Spend $12,000,000 ($231 million in 2024) on Plywood Plane Plant Here." This plane, built with wood from Louisville’s Mengel manufacturing firm, was for U.S. Air Force cargo transports. After a disastrous crash of one of the planes in 1943, the Curtiss plant shifted to all-metal planes by mid-1944. Another airplane plant was built at Standiford that modified bombers for the Royal British Air Force.
With victory anticipated, another small news article appeared May 18, 1944, noting that “considerable discussion has been given to the idea that after the war Standiford Field be the main commercial airport, with civilian flying concentrated at Bowman Field.”
“Big Things Are Planned for Louisville’s Standiford Field” was the Dec. 2, 1945 headline. A photo caption stated: “Architects now are at work on plans to transform Standiford Field into one of the most modern in America, capable of loading 12 of the largest liners at one time.” The acreage was now listed at 1,500 and the overall value at $10 million.
"The fact that Standiford puts Louisville on the list of world ports is novel," said Addison W. Lee, Jr., president of the Louisville and Jefferson County Air Board. “It is a certainty that there is untapped a tremendous business in air travel and freight."
The Courier Journal Sunday magazine on July 28, 1946, detailed significant improvements being made at Standiford to accommodate commercial air flights. Renderings by the architectural firm Nevin and Morgan were shown of the proposed Administration Building, with a prominent glass control tower centered on top. By mid-1950, this Administration Building was in operation with scheduled five airlines. It was named for Lee who did not see his aviation dream fulfilled. He died May 1, 1949, at age 64.
For the past 74 years, the airport has seen major transformations such as the UPS WorldPort in 2002, new landside and airside terminals, and being renamed the “Muhammad Ali International Airport” in 2019. One bit of history has remained the same: luggage tags still read “SDF”, a lasting reference to Dr. Elisha Standiford’s property on which it was built.
Steve Wiser, FAIA, is a local historian, author, and architect.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Retro Louisville: Origins of Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport
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