Founded by the people of Columbus, the original Port Columbus Airport terminal was one of the first airport facilities in the United States. Dedicated on July 8, 1929, Port Columbus became the first transfer point in westbound transcontinental passenger service operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Transcontinental Air Transport, and the Santa Fe Railway. Its first passengers left New York City by rail on July 7, 1929, boarded TAT Ford Tri-Motor aircraft at Port Columbus the next day, flew to Waynoka, Oklahoma, then continued by rail to Clovis, New Mexico, before completing the trip by TAT flight to Los Angeles. The scheduled 48-hour journey was celebrated in Columbus as a milestone in national airport travel. As the Great Depression deepened, the venture at Port Columbus was not profitable enough, and the scheduled train-plane operation was suspended and replaced with coast-to-coast air service in 1930. Mail service arrived at the airport in 1930, and a major contract with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in 1940 also helped. Curtiss-Wright leased 83 acres of airport property to produce 6,000 planes, including the SB2C Helldiver and SO3C-1 Seagull aircraft. The federal government took over airport operations in 1941, and in 1942 a Naval Air Facility was established, adding several new buildings and lengthening runways. This building served as the passenger terminal until the present terminal opened on September 21, 1958.
