◃  Mineola Field

Mineola Field

In 1909, Mineola Field (also called the Washington Avenue Airfield) was established on land whose boundaries are Old Country Road to the north, Osborne Road to the south, and Washington Avenue to the east. The field had hangars along the north side and a grandstand on the west side. It existed from 1909 until 1912, when operations were moved to the Hempstead Plains airfield east of Clinton Rd.

OLD COUNTRY RD FRANKLIN AVE MAIN ST McLoughlins Gold Bug Hotel WASHINGTON AVE RUSSELL RD OSBORNE RD Mineola Field (Washington Ave Airfield) site of Mineola Fair E Sawicki
Curtiss Golden Flyer circles Mineola Field, 1909
Curtiss Golden Flyer circles Mineola Field, 1909

The McLaughlin Gold Bug Hotel was on the north side of Old Country Road east of Main St. Established in the 1870s, it was more than a hotel given the QUAKER BEER sign out front. It was the watering hole for the Mineola Field aviators. It was nicknamed the “Gold Bug Hotel” after the Curtis Gold Bug - the nickname of the Curtis Golden Flyer.

McLaughlins Gold Bug Hotel, 1909
McLaughlins Gold Bug Hotel, 1909
Curtis aircraft at McLaughlins Hotel, 1909
Curtiss aircraft at McLaughlins Hotel, 1909

The Aeronautical Society of New York was founded in 1908 with the aim of fostering and developing heavier-than-air flight. They leased the Morris Park racetrack in the Bronx, New York to hold the world's first public air meet. The society built a 150-foot-long hanger at Mineola Field in 1910. This helped establish Mineola Field as one of the prominent centers for aviation in the country.

Aeronautical Society hanger at Mineola Field
Aeronautical Society hanger at Mineola Field

The Garden City Historical Society claims that the airfield closed due to noise problems. Was this the first airport in the country forced to close because of airplane noise?