Marina District in San Francisco City and County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Marina Air Field
Stanley Hiller Jr.
Marina Air Field
The first terminus of the
United States Post Office Dept.
Trans-Continental
Air Mail Service
The first scheduled mail-plane
landed here
September, 9, 1920
Presented by the Air Mail Pioneers Inc.
Stanley Hiller, Jr.
Pioneer helicopter designer, made the first sustained and successful public flight of a helicopter in the western United States. His single-place rotor-craft, the XH-44 was the first helicopter designed and built in the West, and America’s first successful co-axial helicopter.
Presented by
San Francisco International Airport
Flight Festival Committee
Auspices of
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
San Francisco Junior Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
August 1954
Erected 1954 by Air Mail Pioneers Inc. and San Francisco International Airport Flight Festival Committee.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Communications. A significant historical month for this entry is September 1906.
Location. 37° 48.371′ N, 122° 26.432′ W. Marker is in San Francisco, California, in San Francisco City and County. It is in the Marina District. Marker is on Marina Boulevard, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 436 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco CA 94123, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Save the Palace (approx. 0.4 miles away); Lincoln Beachey (approx. 0.4 miles away); Bernard Maybeck (1862-1957) (approx. 0.4 miles away); Fort Mason Historic District (approx. half a mile away); The Palace Lagoon (approx. half a mile away); The PPIE Experience (approx. half a mile away); A City Undaunted (approx. half a mile away); Brigantine Galilee (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San Francisco.
More about this marker. These markers are located on the base of the Marina Green flagpole near the intersection of Marina Boulevard and Avila Street.
Also see . . .
1. Stanley Hiller, Jr. At 17 he founded Hiller Industries, which soon won a major federal contract to manufacture parts for combat aircraft, and Hiller's most important innovations and inventions revolved around the design of helicopters. His work in aviation is especially impressive considering that he had no college degree and little formal training in engineering. (Submitted on November 6, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)
2. Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: California: San Francisco area. Scroll down and click on Montgomery Field / Marina Airfield.
According to “The Last Word in Airfields. A Special History Study of Crissy Field” By Stephen Haller, “Promoting the new art of aviation was a significant activity at the fair (the 1915 Pan Pacific Exposition) , and the Exposition was able to employ such men as Lincoln Beachey, Art Smith, Charles Niles, and Silvio Pettirossi to furnish its visitors demonstrations of flying. (Submitted on November 6, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 6, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 964 times since then and 79 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 6, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.