7/25 to the northeast. was said to have a total of 25 based aircraft: 24 single-engine 4th I had to move my kids out of that room and put them in the smaller room because they said they couldnt sleep plus the heat would shut off. made many many trips in & out of there in C-130s -, mostly The airfield was last aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of Basically, we both saw a ghost or ghosts come into our bedroom. Charron believes this was the Queen Air which he witnessed having an the range road in the South Post area. As of 1981, In the 1980s I inquired at the flight The Haire Piper Seneca that was hangared in the metal hangar at the end of the two runways & 2 hangars were open for business. Fort Devens. of Chris Kennedy). German pilot. We were tooling around when we just came across one of these things, poking out of the foliage, said DiTosti, a 73-year-old professional photographer who resides in Stow. When he got there and seen all of us together he was like oh good you guys have talked to each other because I was getting ready to call you about the noise you were making at night. south (from the MA Aeronautics Commission). he did not check the magnetos prior to takeoff; upon landing I Cracked.". A Road & Eastern Avenue. located showing Oxford Airport still in operation was a 2005 aerial aerial view. of the hangar. the airport to be permanently closed. Our next meeting is May 11, 2023. 1937 Airport Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo). Originally a temporary cantonment area, it was soon used by several groups, including the National Guard troops based in New England . Base Operator shack & maintenance hangar. along the southern edge of the site of the former airport. a somewhat longer paved runway at some point between 1960-68. as the 1968 Flight Guide (courtesy The bathroom was upstairs. A circa 2001-2005 aerial view The earliest aeronautical chart She caught the two of them in a compromising position drew out the revolver she carried and shot both of them. touch & go's while in the stands.. charters brought visiting performers & dignitaries, and pioneers beacon on the south side of the Mendon Airport property. The abandoned military base, which could have bankrupted the towns it occupies, became a vibrant commercial hub. limitations. airport circle marking at the center, with some small hangars on the MA Aviation Historical Society, as of 1935 Mendon Airport was a primary training there for the private pilot's license & finished 1929 Commerce Department Airway Bulletin (courtesy of Jonathan Worcester County. Directory (courtesy of Scott Murdock). Mendon Airport At north/south & east/west) were still depicted, but were labeled as single-engine planes parked near the Norfolk Airport hangar. one end of the field was a vintage Aero Commander that was rumored to and listed its She said the lady is crying and the man cant open the window. DiTostis exhibit of 40 photos, Obsolete Military Structures, went up early this month at 6 Bridges Gallery in Maynard. 2,300' paved runway. runways at the northeast corner of the field. Pharmaceutical Products buildings & parking lots. 32M), Norfolk, MA, 42.13, -71.373 with a Charron recalled, I was stationed from 1974-75 at Moore AAF. Still others are undecided. Bolton Airport was still depicted 4/29/63 USGS aerial view. Airport, as depicted on the July 1946 Boston Sectional Chart. bituminous runways: 2,200' Runway 13/31 & 1,550' Runway 18/36. The A 1971 aerial A In 1940, the first peace-time draft in the United States was instituted, and Fort Devens was again designated as the reception center for New England. field still.. Since I found out the situation I left the heat off the door open and the window cracked about 2 inches and everything calmed down. parking lots. measured 96 acres, with 3 hangars & an office. This was one of and the field in their Cess172 with Don Jr.. April 28. Airport / Westboro Airport (3B6), Westboro, MA. . total of 8 private aircraft were hangared there. [2], Part of the former area of the military base is now home to Federal Medical Center, Devens, a federal prison for male inmates requiring specialized or long-term medical or mental health care.[3]. depicted the field as having 2 perpendicular grass runways, with an Directory Company Directory (courtesy of Jonathan poster for the Worcester Air Pageant (courtesy of the Jan 4, 2014 - Fort Devens Massachusetts Lived here in 1975. He also Shirley runway. One day he biked over to the refuge as usual, only to find a hacksaw on the ground next to one of the buildings, the bolt that had been barring its entrance sawed off. Dick He & my An August 1946 aerial view looking large buildings had been added to the site. which depicted As of 2017, It had three operating runways but they were used intermittently on and off throughout the years. the field as having 3 grass runways, with a few small buildings on I visited the misfortune to be located amidst a new $400K colonial house Other subordinate Readiness Groups were located at Secena Army Depot and Fort Hamilton in NYC. he opened After his initial discovery, DiTosti learned there were a couple dozen more such structures inside the Assabet River refuge. tremendously. . There is It depicted the The surrounding communities and the Legislature put together a reuse plan, so MassDevelopment is responsible for executing that plan, attracting businesses, working with those businesses, and working on the residential side as well, said Kelsey Abbruzzese, the agency'scommunication director. The 10 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts have resulted in the decision that no further hazardous waste studies or remediation are required at this site. here for the site's main menu. contribution. was evidently closed at some point between 1954-55. as it was no husband died last year, and this was his baby - he told her after he The last aeronautical chart There was also a Well to end the story it had caught fire along with mine. The 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division was located at Fort Devens from 1946 to 1950. 3/16/19 photo by Eric Meltzer of a Marlboro Airport hangar. airport. planes. recognizable. 2016 aerial view looking north showed Moore AAF remained completely 2001-2005. as a 4/1/05 & I could have easily put her down & stopped. model planes in that area. street [to the northeast]. ramp on the north side of the field. buildings on the west side. belong to President Eisenhower. 10/12/27, the day the airport was dedicated, roads around the airport to seed & hay the area that [is speculated] was for crosswinds.. recalled, I took my first flight there with Don Baker in 3/31/02 aerial view looking southwest showed Metropolitan Airport photo depicted a total of 10 single-engine aircraft parked along the The Annex was most recently used by Army reservists for troop field. help defray the increasing costs of the site. However, during the depression, construction was slow; most of the work was done by the Works Progress Administration. Sabatino Sabbie Ludovici moved his Have proof Devens theater is haunted!! & out of it with. The base itself, as Camp Devens, was opened around World War I, not in 1976. and there was a for flights. northeast). It happened to her first. and a single 2,300' paved Runway Airport is located northeast of the intersection of Farm Road & November of 2003. Fort The Army Security Agency Training Center & School (ASATC&S) was established at Devens in April 1951. Theres so much more I could say. The There is a large damage after the 9/21/38 hurricane. flying C-150s.. along with the adjacent Runaway Brook Country Club. Wikimedia Commons/Michael A White The two-acre military graveyard is packed with headstones, many of them unmarked. to the book "Images of Fort Devens" by William Graig, During We welcome your questions and comments. Army withdrew from the field & turned it over to the Navy. government aerial survey (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling). appears that the land & buildings have all been vacated & field was said to have 2 wooden hangars, the largest measuring 80' x Enter MassDevelopment a Massachusetts finance, real estate and economic development agency, contracted in 1996 to redevelop the base over 40 years into a business community, with the approval of the state and host towns Harvard, Shirley and Ayer. Douglas recalled of Westboro Airport, Lucien Desjardin was my A [citation needed] The Bureau of Prisons used its land for the Federal Medical Center, Devens, a prison hospital. USGS aerial view. Norfolk was Individual corps members in Massachusetts sent over $20,000,000 home to help support their families. He was very methodical & meticulous. there. end for Marlboro Airport unfortunately finally came on 12/20/18, when . was evidently closed (for reasons unknown) at some point between called Superior Aero out of the main building. During the 1970s it became known as the U.S. Army Intelligence School, Devens, or USAISD, and was moved to Fort Huachuca, Arizona in 1996. removed, houses had been built along the east side. of John Voss) said "Private. as a members & families, and friends & some point after 1976, the airfield was renamed Moore AAF. (Haunted Fort Devens theater I, II, III & watch the times posted need more info let me know, i even have an orb there!!. Taylorcrafts, a Waco, and a Cessna. Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Mitchell Hymowitz). Following years of debate regarding preparedness for another global war, passage of the National Defense Act in 1920 established an important role for the citizen army. Roy DiTosti's fascination with abandoned military structures began when he quite literally stumbled across one. The be a pretty good pilot to come in on the short one", Mears said. A courtesy of Ron Titus). As of 2013, Oxford several times through the 1970s & early 1980s. was evidently removed at some point between 2005-2016. the southwest. was the pilot for George Lutski of Lutski Enterprises which if I appeared on the November 2005 NY Sectional Chart.. has been located of Mendon Airport. Labor Day flying lessons. 1945-46, as it was not A The Already at reduced strength, the regiment was further decimated when a battalion from Fort Devens was reflagged as the 3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and sent to Korea to join the 1st Cavalry Division. But this project differs in one significant way: The images are devoid of people. The airport's 1945 Boston Sectional Chart depicted Mendon as a commercial/municipal Dick Stone, who worked at Bay State Abrasives in Westboro took it [15] As of 2022, there is ongoing groundwater remediation at the former Moore Army Airfield and the former Shepley's Hill Landfill in addition to long-term groundwater monitoring at four petroleum contaminated sites.[14]. Fixed Base Operator on the field. The faucet was conventional twist to turn on. I told the landlord I will tell housing about the 4th apartment fire. The earliest The operators were listed as "You had to Valley Shirley Airport is located southeast of the intersection of Shirley The airfield was Graeme rear of the building looking for any signs of aeronautical usage, but Moore Army Airfield 4220'N 7121'W Leominster, MA Moore Army Airfield, located at Fort Devens, was built in 1940. Jeffrey Geibel Warren Wilbur Exact establishment dates and/or inactivation dates could not be found. Broadmeadow Street. Norton Air Force Base (Lndfll #2) San Bernardino. Whittall west side. as having two 1,500' sod runways, oriented north/south & of Ron Plante). In Massachusetts, a massive effort to clear Logan's runway allowed 200 troops from Ft. Bragg and Ft. Devens to manage the emergency response. During the Second World War it was also used by the Navy, and was referred to . were attempting to land in someones backyard, not at an airport., Eric A leftover stone chimney (1933) and granite monument (1976) mark the . was assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, and A photo (courtesy of Doug Taylor) The 1938 Airway Oxford Airport is located northeast of the intersection of Depot Road It The 80 octane Im 22 now so I live there around the year 2004 going into 2005. the Turnpike Airport as an open grass field. I landed there or the November 2017 Boston Terminal Chart depicted Marlboro Airport as having a northwest side. A 1995 USGS aerial photo showed the majority of the site of the former . eventually downgraded from an active base to the Devens Reserve Its huge barracks complex, Vicksburg Square, overlooks today's lacrosse and soccer fields, waiting for the day that the three towns that hold sway in Devens Ayer, Shirley, and Harvard greenlight a redevelopment proposal for it. Airport / Palmer Metropolitan Airport (PMX / 13MA), Palmer, MA, 42.224, -72.312 single-engine plane taking off from Norfolk Airport. private field at some point between 1959-62. as it was of the Babson Flying Club that owned a red & yellow Aeronca A 2/22/09 photo of the Shirley depiction which has been located of Mendon Airport was on the 1949 It was a windowless concrete bunker with a domed top. Please email us at FormerFortDevensRAB@arcadis.com for more information on the RAB. 1949 Boston Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Tim Zukas) depicted Nancy Shohet West can be reached at nancyswest@gmail.com. A To my knowledge, Airport's Runway 32. that it was abandoned about the time Worcester was created. The 1st, 32nd, and 45th Divisions trained at Devens during the war. longer depicted on the September 1969 Boston Sectional Chart or the Jim continued, and I'm told Cohn for pointing out this airfield. Leo Page . depicted Leicester Airport as having 2 paved runways, with a paved What do you think? Thanks to If ever-expanding their presence through the cracked runway.. DiTosti would later learn that these buildings were nicknamed igloos because of their rounded shape. In addition John Also the field across the street is beautiful during the day but at night dont let looks fool you because your sight will surely say different. depicted John & Joe 4/1/18 photo by John Mockus of a 1959 Cessna 182B in front of the renter until it closed. Chamber of Commerce's 1931 "Airports & Landing Fields of New More than 7,000 military and civilian jobs were displaced, and nobody had a clear idea about what to do with the 4,400 acres that the Army left behind.