Commercial air travel was still in its infancy when Corpus Christi's first airport was built in 1928.
The drive to establish an airfield in CC began with a desire to be included on a new air mail route between Atlanta and Mexico City proposed by the U.S. government. The cities of New Orleans, Houston, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville would be included…..but only if those cities would fund and build an airfield for that purpose.
With the help of Mr. Cliff Maus and his “Texas Airplane Corporation”, plans for a municipal airport were drawn up.
In April of 1928, Corpus Christi voters approved a $50,000 bond to fund construction of a municipal airport. A site was chosen and 170 acres of land on Old Brownsville Road were purchased by the city for the project. Construction began in July 1928, and was rushed to completion by November.
In the beginning, the 100 foot by 1000 foot runway was paved with crushed oyster shells, and the “terminal” building was only as big as a small house. A steel hanger for the airplanes was not constructed until early 1929.
The first four airplanes to be housed at the new airport were those owned by Cliff Maus and his company. Two of the planes were crop dusters and one plane was reserved for flight instruction. The fourth plane was reserved for passengers….primarily for sightseeing and aerial photography in the beginning.
The airport was formally dedicated in March of 1929, with regular passenger service to and from Brownsville and San Antonio beginning shortly afterward. Cliff Maus was named the airport's first manager, and he would run the airport until 1934 when he left to take a job with Braniff Airlines.
On November 9, 1935, Maus was killed when a Braniff transport airplane that he was piloting crashed near Ft. Worth. Cliff Maus was only 32 years old at the time of his death. His dedication and service in the creation and management of our first airport was instrumental in guaranteeing its success.
Two months after his death the city council adopted a resolution to change the name of Corpus Christi Municipal Airport to “Cliff Maus Field”. The airport would serve Corpus Christi until 1960 when the new Corpus Christi International Airport was opened off of Highway 44.
Today, Gabe Lozano Golf Center and the Corpus Christi State School occupy most of the old Cliff Maus airfield, and virtually all traces of the once-busy airport have vanished. But Airport Road (once one of Cliff Maus Field’s three runways) is a constant reminder of the location of the city’s first municipal airport.
BONUS PHOTO:
Robert Parks is a special contributor to KRIS 6 News. Parks was a history teacher at Carroll High School for 19 years and is now retired. His knowledge of Corpus Christi history makes him a unique expert in the subject.
