bader field: the city’s forgotten sky | Atlantic City History

once, planes brushed the salt air where seagulls circle now. mobsters, dreamers, and pilots all touched down here, each thinking they could own a piece of the sky.

i live down the street from bader field. i walk through it when i need to think. it’s too open for a city this small—an old dream with too much space and too many stories.

most people drive past without realizing this was america’s first municipal airport. in 1910, it hosted air carnivals with the wright brothers and glenn curtiss. the word “air-port” was first printed here in 1919. later, lindbergh called it “the best-situated airport i’ve yet encountered,” and amelia earhart landed here too.

during prohibition, nucky johnson’s friends used it to sneak in cash and booze. in the 1930s, black pilots c. alfred anderson and albert forsythe took off from here on their transcontinental flight, naming their plane the pride of atlantic city.

the 1940s brought wartime patrols, and later, commercial flights. but by the 1980s, its runways were too short for modern planes. in 1986, a crash on albany avenue killed officer thomas burns. the wreckage marked the end of bader’s aviation era.

after that came the atlantic city surf baseball team, fireworks, seafood festivals, and william hung singing take me out to the ball game to a delirious crowd. for a few summers, the city had its heart back.

now the field sits quiet—paintball games, car meets, and kites where planes once took off. developers want to turn it into a formula one racetrack and luxury apartments. atlantic city doesn’t need that. it needs space that belongs to everyone.

fix the stadium. clean up the field. let people use it. build trails, markets, concerts, public art, skate competitions. let it be the city’s backyard again.

i walk past bader almost every day. the wind still moves across it like it remembers. it doesn’t need to be luxury. it just needs to be loved.

let it stay wide. let it stay weird. let it stay ours.

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