Camp McQuaide is a former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, 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 th ...

camp located near the city of

Watsonville Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 at the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self-designated sanctua ...

in Santa Cruz County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

USA 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 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. After it was closed, it redeveloped into the Monterey Bay Academy and the airfield was reopened as the Monterey Bay Academy Airport.

History

In 1926, the 250th Coast Artillery Regiment moved from

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

, to an area just east of the town of Capitola. Its camp was named for Major Joseph P. McQuaide, who was born in 1867 and graduated from

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

. He served as Chaplain of the

California National Guard The California National Guard (Cal Guard) is part of the National Guard (United States), National Guard of the United States, a dual federal–state military reserve force in the state of California. It has three components: the California Army ...

in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and died March 29, 1924. By 1938, noise from target practice annoyed Capitola residents, so a more remote place was found. were purchased farther south, on coastal farmland near the town of Watsonville. The

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

built San Andreas road to the new site. It became the training center of what was then the 250th Coast Artillery regiment. In September 1940, the regiment was called up for duty in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. During

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 ...

it returned for training in 1944, and then was deployed in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The camp was used as a

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

for army

deserters Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

. The camp housed 2,000 military

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

during the war. After the end of the war, in 1948, it was converted to the private boarding school Monterey Bay Academy.

Capitola Airport

The Capitola Airport also called the Santa Cruz-Capitola Airport was opened in the 1920s with two unpaved runways. In the 1930s a third runway was added, the airport had two 2,500 foot runways and one 1,600 foot runway with a hangar at the north end of the airport. The US Army took over the landing strip during World War 2. The small aircraft landing strip was used so airplanes could drop targets into the ocean. After the war it returned to private use and was closed in 1954 by its owners Russell & Ester Rice. Most of the planes moved to the Santa Cruz Sky Park (SRU), in

Scotts Valley, California Scotts Valley is a small city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, about south of downtown San Jose and north of the city of Santa Cruz, in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. As of the 2020 census, the city populati ...

, that closed in January 1983. Nothing of the Capitola Airport remains. The land is now housing.Santa Cruz-Capitola Airport
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References

External links

* * {{cite web , title= Santa Cruz - Capitola Airport, Santa Cruz, CA , work=

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields is a website detailing information and first hand memories about airports in the United States which are no longer in operation, or are rarely used. The website was started by Paul Freeman in 1999 as he had d ...

: California: Monterey area , author= Paul Freeman , year= 2009 , url= https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_Monterey.htm#capitola , access-date= May 27, 2010 , url-status= live , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100104214338/http://airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_Monterey.html#capitola , archive-date= January 4, 2010 Installations of the United States Army in California 1938 establishments in California Military installations established in 1938 Military installations closed in the 1940s

History

Capitola Airport

See also

References

External links