Frederick Douglass - Greater Rochester International Airport is a public airport located within the City of Rochester, southwest of Downtown, in Monroe County, New York, United States. It is owned and operated by Monroe County. The airport is home to the 642nd Aviation Support Battalion, part of the 42nd Infantry Division.
History
Early history
Baker Field
A 1910 newspaper article cited "a site near Scottsville Road", along with the Baker Farm in Genesee Valley Park, as possible locations for "airships" to fly from Rochester to Toronto. The Baker Farm was located south of the original Genesee Valley Park, and was donated to the Parks Department of the City of Rochester in 1908. The golf course at Genesee Valley Park was extended to include the Baker Farm in 1914. During World War I, the Baker Farm area of the park, renamed "Baker Field", was used for military purposes. The United States School of Aerial Photography had been created at Kodak Park in Rochester, and Baker Field was the airfield associated with the project. Military use of the field ceased in 1918. Baker Field continued to be used as an airfield for a year or two thereafter, but flood conditions made it unsuitable for airfield use in the long run. Britton Field, located just west of Baker Field, became the primary airport for the Rochester area.
Britton Field
The site of the Greater Rochester International Airport, originally known as Britton Field, was used for aviation purposes as early as 1919. The Rochester Aircraft Corporation launched its first passenger flight from Britton Field August 18, 1919. The Curtiss JN-4 was piloted by Earl F. Beers. At the time, the only way to get to the field was either by car or by taking the Genesee Street trolley line to the end, and walking the remaining distance. Beers, a Rochester aviation pioneer, urged the local government to purchase Britton Field for a municipal airport. In 1919, Beers offered passenger flights out of Britton Field, charging $1.00 per minute.
Britton Field hosted the United States Flying Circus, consisting of six planes, in September 1919. Dozens of planes landed in Britton Field as part of an aviation race across the United States and back again. The race was won by Lt. B. W. Maynard, "The Flying Parson", who arrived in Rochester, from Buffalo, at 10:30 AM October 18, 1919. His flight from Buffalo's Curtiss Field to Britton Field, a distance of 70 miles, in 22 minutes. He continued to Binghamton before finishing the race at Mineola at 1:50 PM that afternoon. Brittan Field was the scene of more competition when a pair of Rochester fliers and two from Syracuse raced between the two cities later in 1919, in a contest sponsored by the Rochester Aero Club and the Syracuse Aero Club. The Rochester newspaper reported that the two Rochester planes beat the combined flying time of the Syracuse pair by 15 seconds.
Purchase of the field as a "municipal aviation station" was authorized by the Rochester City Council in December 1919 The Rochester Aircraft Corporation proposed passenger service out of Britton Field across Lake Ontario to Toronto in 1920. "Young" Sparks, of Bradford, PA., demonstrated the early art of parachuting, by leaping from a plane from 2,100 feet, in an aerial field day at Britton Field in 1921. The United States Army considered Britton Field as a possible site for an airship mooring mast in 1924.
In the 1920s Eastman Kodak Company and the United States Army used Britton Field as landing field for the testing of Kodak's aerial photography experiments. The Fokker monoplane "Josephine Ford", flown by Commander Richard Byrd over the North Pole, was exhibited at Britton Field in October 1926, part of a nationwide tour intended to stimulate interest in aviation. During the Rochester exhibition, an unlicensed pilot, Charles Teleska, crashed his own plane.
The Colonial Air Transport Company, forerunner to American Airlines, developed plans in 1926 to run daytime flights from Boston to Chicago, stopping at Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Cleveland. An intersecting route from New York City to Montreal would cross at Albany, allowing for passenger transfers. The new route would carry passengers, mail and merchandise. Night flights were planned as soon as lighted fields were available. The Rochester Flying Club was formed that Fall, intending to keep Britton Field open to all aviation, and to start construction of a hangar and other improvements.