Terminal Building, Old, Hangar and Powerhouse at Key Field National Register of Historic Places Listing

Meridian, Mississippi doesn't usually scream aviation hub. But in 1935, two local brothers changed everything. Al and Fred Key took off from Key Field in a Curtiss Robin monoplane named The Ole Miss and refused to land for twenty-seven days. They lived in that cramped cockpit. To refuel mid-air, they had to invent a spill-free nozzle. The military later copied it. That steel-trussed hangar and the brick terminal witnessed every grueling hour of their 653-hour world record.

The structures themselves-the old terminal, hangar, and powerhouse-rose during the Great Depression. City leaders wanted a modern airport. So, they used local labor and early federal funds to erect them between 1930 and 1933. No marble columns here. Instead, you get rugged red brick, concrete floors, and steel trusses built to withstand roaring propellers. During World War War II, the Army Air Forces took over. They turned Key Field into a massive training base where bomber and fighter crews prepped for European skies.

Now, the old complex sits on the edge of a busy modern airfield. It looks remarkably intact. Walk past the old hangar today and you can still smell the faint ghost of grease and high-octane fuel. This wasn't just a place where people boarded commercial flights. It was a laboratory for survival. Those mechanics solved problems with hand tools and raw grit. That is why these buildings still matter.