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After first establishing an east coast airmail route from New York to Washington, via Philadelphia in 1917, by 1918 the U. S. Post Office began test flights and trial landings for the east-west route from New York to Chicago. Lock Haven was chosen for a landing site. Bellefonte's leaders swung into action to get the air mail field in Bellefonte instead.
Lock Haven planned a celebration for the big day when the test plane landed, but in a move reminiscent of the flatboat of furniture dragged up Spring Creek by a team of mules, a delegation crashed the party and convinced postal officials a landing field in Bellefonte was more desirable.
Bellefonte's Postmaster, P. H. Gherrity, was notified a plane would land in the field opposite the Tom Beaver farm (east of Bellefonte) at eleven o'clock on Thursday, September 19th. He was instructed that the pilot should be supplied with oil, gasoline and whatever else he needed.
Nearly half of the town's people "motored, ran and walked" to the air field to greet the plane. Most waited until noon, scanning the sky for any sight of the plane, but it failed to appear.
Gherrity again received word Friday morning that the plane would arrive about eleven o'clock.
Max Miller's plane arrived, circled Bellefonte several times and landed. Miller, accompanied by his mechanic Henry Wacker, were on an "observation tour" mapping out a permanent airmail route from New York to Cleveland.
Miller reported Bellefonte was a better situated site than Lock Haven. Bellefonte's field was situated much higher than Lock Haven's, which had been in use as an experimental stop. By mid-October official notification was received that service would begin in November and stops would be Lehighton, Bellefonte, Clarion, Cleveland and Bryan, Ohio. Needless to say, "some well-meaning, though greatly mistaken Lock Haven gentlemen had the audacity to intimate, even complain bitterly, that this change was all due to inside political manipulation."
After several weather delays the first flight arrived December 18. Soon hangars were built and several pilots established living quarters there.
A November 15, 1919, fire destroyed the hangar, business office, two DH-4 air planes, one Curtiss air mail plane, two motorcycles and all the plane parts and tools. The loss was valued at $150,000 to $200,000. The field was rebuilt, but was moved to Spring Township between Zion and Pleasant Gap July 1, 1925 because of a new schedule of night flights.
In 1932, Bellefonte was chosen as one of three original weather radio stations on the east-west route. WNAM was one of the busiest stations on the routes, averaging 180 calls per day. June 25, 1933 the radio station was destroyed by fire, but it was back on the air by July 20.
The Central Pennsylvania section of the New York to Chicago route was known as the "graveyard of the Alleghenies" and "Hell's stretch." More air mail pilots died in this stretch than any other along the entire route to the west coast. The best known crash in this area was that of Charlie Ames on October 1, 1925. After several days searching in many areas of the state failed to find Ames, rumors had him absconding with the mail. But 10 days later, Ames's plane was found where it had crashed into the side of the mountain 200 feet below the crest.
Sources:
Romayne B Naylor
Bellefonte Republican, various dates
Centre Democrat, variuos dates
Democratic Watchman, various dates
Nancy Allison Wright
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