St. George CAA Airport

WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY     (Washington County, Utah)

ST. GEORGE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (CAA) AIRPORT

St. George, Utah

LOCATION

The old CAA airport was located at the site of the new St. George Municipal Airport.


HISTORY

In 1924 two emergency dirt airfields were graded for a future mail route. One was west of little Valley along the road leading to the Arizona Strip and the other was seven miles southeast of St. George.

Although there was already a municipal airport on the Black Hill west of St George, in 1944 the federal government decided to build an additional airport at the site of the old dirt strip seven miles southeast of St. George. On June 23, 1948 it became a Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Intermediate Airfield.

This airfield was abandoned sometime before 1971. For many years it was used as a drag strip and field for radio controlled airplanes.

The site of the old CAA airport is the location of the new St. George Municipal Airport.


PHOTOS

WCHS photos:
WCHS-00410   Photo of sand drag racing at the old Dixie Raceway Drag Strip


REFERENCES

Information and photos about the old CAA airport
Climate data from 7/1/1948 to 12/31/1954
Sons of Utah Pioneers history of aviation in St. George
Los Angeles Denver Airway Beacon 36 information