Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Northwestern Oregon
© 2002, © 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 9/7/08.
Bernard Field (added 12/5/04) - (Original) Portland Municipal Airport / Swan Island Airport (revised 9/7/08)
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(Original) Portland Municipal Airport / Swan Island Airport, Portland, OR
45.56 North / 122.71 West (Southwest of Portland International Airport, OR)
A 1929 aerial view looking southeast at Swan Island Airport, showing 4 runways.
In 1925, like many growing urban areas, Portland insisted on having an airport.
Aviation interests proposed that the swampy Swan Island (northwest of downtown Portland on the Willamette River)
be used as an airport, and the Port of Portland purchased 253 acres.
Construction of the airport began in 1926.
Even though the airport was not yet completed
Charles Lindbergh flew in & dedicated the new airfield in 1927.
The earliest photo which has been located of the Swan Island Airport was a 1929 photo,
showing a total of 4 runways.
Construction of the airport was actually completed in May, 1930.
The airport’s services included airmail & passenger service.
A circa 1930s aerial view looking northwest at the Swan Island Airport.
By 1935, it was becoming apparent to the Port of Portland that the Swan Island Airport was becoming obsolete.
The small airfield could not accommodate the larger aircraft & passenger loads expected to become common to Portland,
and it couldn't easily be expanded (due to its location on an island).
Plans were conceived to replace the airport with a larger municipal airport (a few miles to the northeast).
An aerial view looking south at the “Portland Municipal Airport”,
from The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airport Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).
The directory described the airport as consisting of a rectangular sod field, one which were 4 runways.
A hangar was said to be marked with “Portland” on the roof.
The Columbia Helicopters company had its start at the Swan Island Airport, according to Jeffrey Knapp.
The original Portland Airport on Swan Island was still depicted as an active airfield
on the November 1941 Portland Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The Swan Island Airport was evidently closed at some point between 1941-43,
as it was no longer depicted at all on the March 1943 Portland Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
However, an adjacent seaplane facility was still shown.
A 1945 aerial view looking south at the shipyards which covered Swan Island by that time,
with not a trace left of the former airport.
As seen in the 2002 USGS aerial photo,
the site of the former Swan Island Airport is now occupied by shipping facilities,
with not a trace of the former airport appearing to remain.
Keith Wood reported in 2005 that “Much of the eastern half of the airport site
belongs to Freightliner Corporate headquarters & related facilities.
The headquarters itself has a 'natural' colored roof, but is served by the large parking lot in the southeast corner of the island.
The largest of the grey-roofed buildings is a training center for DaimlerChrysler.”
The site of Swan Island Airport is located at the intersection of North Dolphin Street & North Lagoon Avenue.
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45.5 North / 122.81 West (West of Portland, OR)
A 1931 aerial view looking north along Cedar Street at Bernard Field.
The airfield consisted of a single north/south grass runway,
According to the City of Beaverton web site, when the Watts Airport at Erickson & 6th Street was outgrown,
Charles Bernard was approached about building a larger airfield.
Bernard built wood-frame hangars parallel to Cedar Street,
and the home-built airplane industry in Beaverton thrived.
The date of construction of Bernard Field has not been determined.
The earliest depiction of the field which has been located was the above 1931 aerial photo.
A 1930s aerial view looking south at Bernard Field.
On September 11, 1938 the Oregonian reported that Bernard Airport was
"perhaps the busiest noncommercial airport in the United States -
Beaverton - where exists the added distinction that most of the planes are amateur-built."
Bernard Field was depicted on the 1948 Portland Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
as having a 1,900' unpaved runway.
A 1966 aerial view looking north along Cedar Hills Boulevard at Beaverton Airport.
It appeared as if the runway had been paved at some point between 1948-66.
The field had a large number of individual T-hangars on the west & east sides of the field,
and a dozen light aircraft were also visible parked on the field.
Bernard Field was depicted on the 1968 Portland Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)
as having a 2,400' paved runway.
According to the City of Beaverton web site, Bernard Field was closed in 1969.
At that time it was Oregon's oldest operating airport.
The former airport was demolished to make room for the Beaverton Mall.
As seen in the 2002 USGS aerial photo,
the site of the former airport is now occupied by the Cedar Hills Crossing shopping center,
with not a trace of the former airport appearing to remain.
The site of Bernard Field is located southwest of the intersection of Cedar Hills Boulevard & Jenkins Road.
Thanks for Karl Gruber for pointing out this airfield.
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Tongue Point Naval Air Station, Astoria, OR
46.2 North / 123.76 West (Northwest of Portland, OR)
The April 1943 1M Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted the Tongue Point seaplane base as the "US Naval Air Station".
In 1919, Congress approved the construction of a submarine & destroyer base
on the present site of Tongue Point Naval Air Station,
a peninsula jutting into the Columbia River.
In 1921, Clatsop County transferred ownership of 395 acres to the federal government
and dredging began that same year.
Construction was completed in 1924,
with a breakwater & four wooden finger piers extending into Cathlamet Bay.
However, with decreased military appropriation following World War I,
the base was never used.
The actual ground breaking for the Naval Air Station began in 1939.
As there were many delays with Tongue Point, the Navy began to use two other nearby civil airports,
Moon Island Airport in Hoquiam, WA, and Clatsop County Airport in Warrenton.
Construction finally got underway at Tongue Point in 1943.
Tongue Point was to be a base for amphibious seaplane patrols of the coastline.
PBY Catalinas arrived in 1943 and began coastal patrols.
This proved difficult due to the logs & other floating debris on the Cathlamet Bay,
which made takeoff & landing conditions hazardous.
A WW2-era aerial view looking east at Tongue Point NAS (National Archives photo).
From 1943-1944 the station's intended mission was temporarily sidetracked,
when its facilities were used instead to assist the Kaiser Company in a critical shipbuilding program.
This became the facility's most significant role during WW2,
as a pre-commissioning & commissioning site for escort aircraft carriers
(better known as "jeep flattops") built in the big Victory ship yards in the Portland-Vancouver area.
In 1944 the PBY Catalinas at Tongue Point were replaced by larger & more capable PBM Mariners.
"Tongue Point (Navy)", as depicted on the March 1945 Seattle Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Anti-submarine patrols from Tongue Point were discontinued with the end of WW2 in 1945,
and the station was placed in a caretaker status in 1946.
Following WW2, the base was converted to a moorage facility for the Ready Reserve fleet.
To accommodate this fleet,
eight new concrete piers were built out into Cathlamet Bay.
From 1946-1962, the Navy stored as many as 250 mothballed Liberty ships at the facility.
By 1962, the Tongue Point Naval Air Station was transferred
to the General Services Administration as excess property.
When the station was deactivated by the Navy it consisted of 842 acres of land & water areas and 320 structures.
The Coast Guard Group / Air Station Astoria was established in 1964 at Tongue Point Naval Station.
A crew of 22 officers & 104 enlisted men operated two single-engine HH-52A Seaguard helicopters from Tongue Point.
The helicopters staged from the Port of Astoria Airport during periods of inclement weather.
This was done until the Air Station was permanently moved to its present location at the Warrenton Airport in 1966.
In 1981, the federal government sold much of the land (including two of the three hangars) to the State of Oregon.
Part of the facilities are used as the Tongue Point Job Corps Center.
The 1984 USGS topo map depicted the seaplane hangars & piers at Tongue Point.
As seen in the 1994 USGS aerial photo,
the facilities at Tongue Point consists of a large concrete seaplane ramp,
three hangars, a seaplane ramp, and numerous piers.
Undated photo looking west at the northern Tongue Point seaplane hangar, with the seaplane ramp in the foreground.
A 1997 Army Corps of Engineers report gives further details about Tongue Point.
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