Beschreibung:

Comprises: "S.F. Bay Airdrome." Pencil & color pencil survey, on graph paper, a printed form from Sanborn Map Company, with the information space for map creation on the back not filled in. 31.5x52 cm (12½x20½"). "Alameda Airport Inc., Alameda, Calif., Aug. 1929. Scale 1" = 100'. March & McLemman - J.B.F. Davis & Son Ltd., Insurance, San Francisco-Los Angeles." Printed & manuscript map with color. 27.5x47 cm (10¾x18½"). "Plot Plan San Francisco Bay Airdrome, Alameda - California. Scale 1" = 300 ft. 3/30/30." Blueprint map with color pencil. 27.3x43.3 cm (10¾x17"). Three related maps and plans created in apparent response to insurance requirement for the newly constructed, or perhaps still under construction, airfield just outside of the town of Alameda. The three maps were found together, held together with a old straight pin (since removed to protect against damage, but the holes remain). The website "San Francisco Bay Airdrome" delves briefly into the history of the "true field of dreams, an oasis sitting uncomfortably next to a busy avenue, its sweet sounds of aircraft engines occasionally challenging the rumble of passing trucks. It was a classic place, even its name had a stately ring to it — San Francisco Bay Airdrome. Not airport nor airfield, mind you, Airdrome... In 1920, as part of an inheritance from a wealthy alumnus, the University of California received 458 acres of partially filled marshland on both sides of Webster Street. In 1929, capitalizing on the airplane fever created by Lindbergh's transcontinental flight, UC Regents began construction of an airport. The marsh was drained by a network of ditches from which water was pumped. After grading the site, crushed oyster shells were barged from Bay Farm Island to pave a 3,400' and 1,700' runway, and the airdrome's business was housed in a single 53,000-square-foot hangar, constructed for $150,000... That it was in the wrong place at the right time would not be known for ten years, for when the Bay Airdrome had its gala christening party on Saturday, August 16, 1930, it was there because it was needed. And, because it was needed, it became a busy place, an early home base for Coastal Air Freight, Varney Air Lines, West Coast Air Transport, Western Air Express, the transbay Air Ferries, and Boeing's Pacific Air Transport. Its success during 1930-31 led to a 160' addition to the original hangar and the first 160' of another one. Three more hangars were soon added, actually attached to the first, then a fifth one, separate and canted at an outward angle to accommodate a planned, but unbuilt, runway. A victim of Depression-era economy and loss of airlines to San Francisco and Oakland Airports, the airdrome instead became home to general aviation and private aerial services. It eventually shut down in 1941, crowded out by the Alameda Naval Air Station.