Beckley in Raleigh County, West Virginia — The American South (Appalachia)
Cleared for Takeoff
Photographed by Merle T. Cole, December 2022
1. Cleared for Takeoff Marker
Aviation had a long history in Raleigh County before the Beckley-Mount Hope Airport broke ground in 1933. Col. Paul Peck of Hinton is thought to be the first person to land an airplane in Raleigh County, in a field sometime before 1912 – only a few years after Orville Wright’s first flight at Kitty Hawk, NC. Early landing fields were just that – unpaved, unimproved farm fields with no aviation services nearby.
Air traffic in Beckley picked up with the popularity of air travel in the 1920s and 30s. Several of General Billy Mitchell’s US Army aircraft landed in the Beckley area in 1921 on their way to the Battle of Blair Mountain. Humorist Will Rogers visited Beckley in 1927, and was inconvenienced by the lack of a modern airfield.
The scene of much early air activity in Beckley was Tolley Field, a cow pasture along Johnstown Road. The field was the site of the county’s first aviation fatalities when two men died in a plane crash there in 1935. The completion of Beckley-Mount Hope Airport’s modern facilities here in 1937 improved air safety for all of Raleigh County’s “travelers of the skies.”
[Captions:]
Modern facilities like hangars and runways improved safety for Beckley aviators, but air travel was still risky. Courtesy Dan Sessler.
Martin MB-2 Bomber similar to those dispatched to end the 1921 Miner's March on Logan during the WV Mine Wars.
Two Civil Air Patrol members died in this fiery February, 1944 crash at Beckley-Mount Hope Airport. Courtesy Dan Sessler.
Erected 2022
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Industry & Commerce • Labor Unions. In addition, it is included in the Coal Heritage Trail series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1933.
Location. 37° 48.668′ N, 81° 10.964′ W. Marker is in Beckley, West Virginia, in Raleigh County. It is on Industrial Drive just east of Lewis Ritchie Drive, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 169 Industrial Drive, Beckley WV 25801, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in West Virginia’s New River Gorge. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this
Photographed by Tom Sopher, December 16, 2022
2. Beckley-Mount Hope Airport
Photographed by Becky Leach, January 18, 2023
3. True Remembrance
Raleigh County Historical Society past-president Tom Sopher (left) chats with Jack Clemens, a local pilot who used the former airport.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 21, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 23, 2022, by Merle T. Cole of Daniels, West Virginia. This page has been viewed 475 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on December 23, 2022, by Merle T. Cole of Daniels, West Virginia. 2. submitted on December 24, 2022, by Merle T. Cole of Daniels, West Virginia. 3. submitted on January 19, 2023, by Merle T. Cole of Daniels, West Virginia. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
