The 1940 Air Terminal Museum is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

located in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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 ...

, at William P. Hobby Airport. Collections are housed in the original

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

building which served as the first purpose-built terminal for passenger flight in Houston. The museum currently exhibits several collections focusing on Houston's civil

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

history and is operated by the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society (HAHS), a recognized Texas 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

History

The museum is housed in the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal building, a streamline moderne

airport terminal An airport terminal is a main building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft. The buildings that provide access t ...

built with

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...

(PWA) funds in 1940. The terminal building is among the few surviving examples of classic

airport architecture from the 1940s. The terminal served Houston during the years when air travelers dressed in their best and embarked for destinations aboard roaring prop liners like the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

and the

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first civil airliner family to enter widespread use equipped with a pressurized cab ...

. Designed by architect Joseph Finger (who also designed Houston's

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

), the terminal was designed to meet Houston's growing role as a center for air commerce in the late 1930s. The terminal served as the only commercial air terminal for Houston until 1954, and was subsequently used by various tenants until 1978. In that year, Hobby Airport's manager James Delong proposed demolishing the 1940 terminal to free up ramp space, but enthusiasts blocked the demolition. The terminal was then unoccupied for nearly 20 years. In 1988 Stephen Fox of '' Cite'' said that the terminal was "in very shabby condition."Fox, Stephen.
Garden Villas An Architectural Tour
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Archive
'' Cite''. Northern Hemisphere Spring-Summer 1988. Retrieved on June 1, 2012.

Restoration and modern use

The city of Houston stabilized the exterior of the building, and members of the Houston Aviation Alliance worked to save the terminal. In 1998, the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society (HAHS), a nonprofit organization, was formed primarily to save the threatened terminal building. HAHS recognized that funding and renovation must be completed in phases, and created a plan to restore the building over time. In late 2003, HAHS's contractors completed the

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

and lead abatement of the north wing of the terminal. The abatement process stripped the original plaster from the interior walls, leaving the non-loadbearing tile curtain walls of the terminal intact. The North Wing of the Air Terminal was opened to the public in February 2004 as the first phase of the museum. The restored North Wing of the terminal housed the museum's collection and gift shop and served as the museum's base of operations while completing fund raising and restoration of the remainder of the building. The rest of the building completed

abatement in May 2008 and completed atrium and mezzanine reconstruction in February 2009. The full lower floor will be restored to its original condition when funds permit. The museum will spread out and occupy the entire first floor of the terminal building and then begin renovation of the upper floors. The American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) designated the 1940 Air Terminal Museum a Historic Aerospace Site. The 1940 Air Terminal is the AIAA's 35th aerospace site recognized as a rare example of classic

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

airport architecture. In February 2010, the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society was presented with a Good Brick Award for excellence in preservation for the 1940 Air Terminal Museum. Good Brick Awards are given annually from the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. In 2008 the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...

'' declared the terminal the "Best Piece of Aviation History". In 2008, HAHS was granted a license to the oldest

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

on Hobby Airport's grounds, a 1929 Great Silver Fleet Maintenance Hangar. The organization used this hangar to display larger exhibits from the collection, such as three simulators, and HAHS's aircraft collection, which includes a 1942 Lockheed Lodestar executive businessliner, and an S-58 Sikorsky Helicopter that was outfitted for civilian heavy lifting.

Funding and special events

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum receives funding through grants from many private and public foundations, as well as individual donors. The museum also operates a Members' Program, which allows special access to some functions for members. The museum and its buildings are also available for private functions. HAHS currently benefits from several fundraisers: *Wings and Wheels- every third Saturday of the month, the 1940 Air Terminal Museum has static displays of aircraft and cars. *Pops & Props Gala- an annual fundraising dinner and dance. *Win-A-Plane Raffle- an annual raffle for a beautifully restored vintage plane. *Hobby Fest- the large, annual Wings and Wheels with several special guests, rides, and prizes.

The Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum is the project of the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society. The Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society is a Texan non-profit corporation founded to research, promote and preserve the aeronautical heritage of Houston and southeast Texas. The society was founded in 1998 by a group of aviation, architecture and history enthusiasts. The society includes persons from all walks of life, including students and retirees, architects and attorneys, educators and engineers, community leaders and commercial pilots. The Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society is recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service. The society is funded through private and public grants, corporate and personal contributions and net proceeds from revenue generating endeavors such as museum memberships and gift shop sales.

References

External links

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at William P. Hobby AirportHouston Airport System — William P. Hobby Airport

Houston 1940 Air Terminal Museum
— pictures on

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

1940 Air Terminal Museum
— pictures on

*Gonzalez, J. R.
1941 photos show scenes at Houston Municipal Airport
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. May 10, 2010. {{authority control Transport infrastructure completed in 1940 Museums established in 2003 Museums in Houston Aerospace museums in Texas Airport terminals Art Deco architecture in Texas Joseph Finger buildings 1940 establishments in Texas 2003 establishments in Texas Public Works Administration in Texas