Witham Field is a public-use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located southeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

of the city of

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

in Martin County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The airport is publicly owned.

History

With the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, private landowners offered their property to Martin County to build an airport. Martin County's airport was originally known as MacArthur Field, however, it was later named Witham Field in honor of enlisted Naval Aviation Pilot First Class (AP1) Paul "Homer" Witham, who was the first

Naval Aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

from the City of Stuart to die in World War II. In October 1942, Martin County leased the airport to the U.S. Government for use as a military training field. The

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

assumed operation of the airport in exchange for an $800,000 payment to the County. The Navy then committed $10 million to construct and operate a modern

naval air station A Naval Air Station (NAS) is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation). These bases are typically populated by squadron ...

. During the war years, Naval Auxiliary Air Station Witham Field operated as an auxiliary field to

Naval Air Station Vero Beach Vero Beach Regional Airport is a public airport located northwest of Vero Beach in Indian River County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned and is the home of Piper Aircraft. History 1929–1941 In 1929, Bud Holman, whose ...

, providing an additional training and proficiency facility for

s from the

and

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

operating carrier-based and land-based fighter and light bomber aircraft. On July 1, 1947, NAAS Witham Field was decommissioned and the property returned to Martin County. During the 1950s and 1960s, Grumman Aircraft Corporation, now known as

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

Space and Mission Systems Corporation, leased much of the airport property, naming it "Plant 77" and conducting flight-testing and manufacturing of parts and subassemblies for various aircraft such as the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

's OV-1 Mohawk and various

and U.S. Coast Guard aircraft. This is also where the Stuart Air Show performs every November. In 1994, Northrop Grumman downsized their Witham Field operation and much of the property was again returned to Martin County, including responsibility for the airport's air traffic control tower. The county, in turn, hired an Airport Director to manage the property. Martin County now operates the airport, and although there is no scheduled commercial airline service at the airport, the facility does continue to maintain an operational air traffic control tower and is home to two

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction ...

s (FBO) and more than 200 private and business aircraft. The airport previously had scheduled passenger service operated by

Air Florida Air Florida was an American low-cost carrier that operated under its own brand from 1972 to 1984. During the period from 1972 to 1978 Air Florida was an intrastate airline. Until a high-profile 1982 aircraft crash in Washington DC, Air Florida ...

which in 1984 was operating seven daily departures to

West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

(PBI) with six of these flights then continuing on to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

(MIA) on a direct one stop basis. Every November, the airport hosts the Stuart Air Show, although in 2019 the show was cancelled after a practice run resulted in a fatal crash and inclement weather moved into the area.Stuart Air Show cancels Sunday events, citing weather concerns
Colleen Wixon, Treasure Coast Newspapers, 03 Nov 2019.

References

External links

*
KSUA, The History of Witham Field, Stuart FL, Part One

KSUA, The History of Witham Field, Stuart FL, Part Two
{{Florida airports Airports in Florida Transportation buildings and structures in Martin County, Florida

History

See also

References

External links