Mobile in Mobile County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley
Photographed by Mark Hilton, June 24, 2023
1. Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley Marker
The Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley encompasses much of the early history of aviation in Alabama, including Monroe Park where aerial experimenter John Fowler displayed his flying machine designs. The fairgrounds located adjacent to Monroe Park were utilized for early aerial exhibitions. Located immediately north of the Aeroplex, in an area known as "The Flats," Legion Field was developed in 1917 and became Mobile's first flying field. The city's first municipal airport, Bates Field, was dedicated in November 1929 and located within the geographic borders of the current Mobile Aeroplex. In July 1939, the War Department acquired 1,362 acres of land that included Bates Field for construction of a military aviation depot. Designated the Southeast Air Depot, the facility was subsequently named for military aviator Wendell Holsworth Brookley and supported military aviation operations in five southeastern states and the Caribbean. Brookley Field was the only military aviation depot in the United States with access to air, rail, sea, and highway modes of transportation. During the Second World War, more than 16,000 men and women
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Following the end of the Second World War, the United States Air Force fleet of Douglas C-74 Globemaster aircraft, the world's largest commissioned cargo aircraft, was based at Brookley Field. Globemaster aircraft participated in the Berlin Airlift and other material support missions. During this period, aircraft and crews operating from the facility set numerous aviation records for non-stop flights. Redesignated Brookley Air Force Base in 1947, the facility supported military operations around the world as headquarters of the Mobile Air Materiel Area and the Brookley Field Ocean Terminal. Brookley AFB ultimately grew to encompass more than 2,000 acres of land and the largest runway complex in Alabama. The facility was decommissioned in July 1969 and returned to the City of Mobile. In 2012, Airbus selected the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley as the site of the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility, the company's first commercial aircraft production site in America. Today, the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley is an integral component of the Alabama aviation and aerospace industry.
Erected 2018 by the Alabama
Photographed by Mark Hilton, June 24, 2023
2. Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley Marker
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Alabama Historical Association series list. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1939.
Location. 30° 38.668′ N, 88° 4.101′ W. Marker is in Mobile, Alabama, in Mobile County. It is at the intersection of South Broad Street and Aerospace Drive, on the right when traveling east on South Broad Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2000 Aerospace Dr, Mobile AL 36615, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on Alabama’s Gulf Coast and in the Mobile Bay area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and on the Gulf Coast. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At
Photographed by Mark Hilton, June 24, 2023
3. Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley Marker at Flight Works Alabama.
Also see . . . History of the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. (Submitted on June 24, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)
Photographed by Mark Hilton, June 24, 2023
4. Flight Works Alabama
Credits. This page was last revised on June 28, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 24, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,314 times since then and 266 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on June 24, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
