World War II-Era Aviation-Related Resources of Kansas

Thematic Nomination and Multiple Property Documentation
National Register of Historic Places

Statewide / Multi-County

During World War II, Kansas was home to 16 Army Airfields, two Naval Air Stations, numerous auxiliary fields, bombing ranges, and aircraft plants. These facilities occupied large tracts of land, trained thousands of recruits, and employed many local civilians. The typical base included dozens of buildings to house and train pilots and their crews, maintain aircraft, and guide the aircraft to the Pacific front. The sites and structures documented in this MPDF represent the profound impact Kansas and Kansans had on the outcome of the war.

The period of significance discussed in the MPDF begins in 1939 with the country's preparation for World War II and ends in 1945, the year the war ended. The document classifies aviation-related resources into five categories by use: airfield, cantonment, training, recreation and welfare, and hospital buildings. The airfields and their structures were quickly assembled, usually according to pre-determined architectural plans

Files

• Multiple Property Documentation Form

Associated Properties

• Great Bend AAF Hangar (Great Bend)
• Great Bend AAF Norden Bombsight Storage Vaults (Great Bend)
• Norden Bombsight Storage Vaults (Pratt)
• Strother Field Tetrahedron Wind Indicator (Winfield)