Harold F. Troxel, aerial photographer and president of Portland Flying Service in 1935. Contributed / South Portland Historical Society

Many local residents still remember the Port O’Maine Airport, a private airport that was in operation on the South Portland/Scarborough border for over 20 years. As we mentioned in our column last month, Sagadahoc Farms sold its property to Avon Company during the Depression. Avon Company was a real estate holding company, incorporated in April of 1932 by Clark D. Chapman and his brother, Wilford G. Chapman Jr., both Portland attorneys. Clark Chapman had a history with the farm as he had loaned them money in 1923 and again in 1924. After purchasing the farm in May 1932, the Chapmans held the property until Harold Troxel came along in 1940 with a plan to build his own airport. To fully understand the Port O’Maine Airport that was located on the former cow pastures of Sagadahoc Farms, let’s first take a look at Harold Troxel and some other local airports.

Harold F. Troxel is an interesting figure in early Maine aviation history. He was born in Ohio and was only 4 years old when the Wright brothers accomplished their first successful flight in December of 1903.

In this area of Maine, the first “Portland Airport” was actually in Scarborough, off the Manson Libby Road, next to the Scarborough marsh. Construction of Portland Airport began in 1927. While that airport was still being built, Charles Lindbergh attempted to land there with his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, on July 23, 1927. His first attempt was thwarted by fog, leading him to land in Concord, New Hampshire. He attempted again the next day, but due to fog over Scarborough again, had to land at Old Orchard Beach instead and he arrived by car to the Portland Airport to greet thousands of fans who had awaited him there. The following day, he took off and finally successfully landed in Scarborough before taking off again to go on his way.

The official opening of Portland Airport in Scarborough took place in September 1928, the occasion marked by festivities that included several planes taking off from Curtiss Field in Hempstead (Long Island), New York, in a non-stop race to the new flying field in Scarborough. The Portland Airport was first managed by Curtiss-Wright Flying Services, which also offered a flying school, hoping to encourage throngs of young men to learn how to fly. When Harold Troxel first came to Maine in 1930, he was the chief mechanic and aerial photographer for Curtiss-Wright.

In 1932, shortly after Curtiss-Wright had named Olof Powers Pierson to serve as manager of the airport in Scarborough, a new corporation was established, Portland Flying Service, Inc., with Pierson as its president and Edward C. Bessey as secretary and manager. Portland Flying Service immediately took over management of the Portland Airport from Curtiss-Wright. Harold Troxel was hired by the new company as its chief mechanic, aerial photographer, and assistant manager. In an advertisement in the Portland Press Herald, Portland Flying Service announced that its grand opening would take place on June 12, 1932, and that “it has taken over the management and operation of the Portland Airport at Scarboro and offers complete air service including joy hops, charter rights, photographic service, exhibition flying, instruction, ground school, and complete shop facilities.”

In 1933, as advances continued in the design and construction of new airplanes, it became apparent that the airport in Scarborough was going to be too small. With the flying field bordered by the marsh, Route 1, a brook, and railroad tracks, there wasn’t sufficient room to lengthen the runways for larger planes. Portland Flying Service turned its eye to another flying field that had much greater potential.

Dr. Clifford “Kip” Strange had built his own flying field on his land in the Stroudwater section of Portland in the 1920s; in 1927, his airfield became officially known as “Stroudwater Flying Field.” In May of 1929, Strange formed a corporation, known as Portland Airport Terminals, Inc., of which he was president, to manage the operations at his growing air field. In December 1933, Harold Troxel and Edward Bessey appeared at a Portland City Council meeting, offering to move the Portland Flying Service operation from the Portland Airport in Scarborough to the Stroudwater field, if the city of Portland would help find funding for grading and improving the runways. In August 1934, Clifford Strange incorporated his airport as “Portland City Airport” with himself as the company president. In December 1934, Boston-Maine Airways, a subsidiary of the Boston and Maine and Maine Central Railroads, moved its operation from the Scarborough airport to the Portland City Airport.

In January 1935, Portland City Airport leased some of its property to the city of Portland, making the property eligible for federal funding to improve the runways. Also in January of 1935, the Portland Press Herald reported that Harold Troxel and F. Gilbert Pond had purchased Portland Flying Service, Inc., and the company “has leased a hangar at the Stroudwater airport and now is erecting a large building to provide an office and repair room. An air taxi service and flying school is operated by the Portland Flying Service, Inc., and in addition it carries the largest stock of aeronautical supplies in the state. Besides conducting a general aviation business, it does all styles of aerial photography.”

Strange later sold the airport to the city of Portland through several transactions, from 1935 to 1938. The Portland City Airport would eventually be renamed and is now known as the Portland International Jetport.

We’ll continue our look at Harold Troxel next week, and his soon-to-be Port O’Maine Airport that covered land off of Main Street, on the South Portland/Scarborough town line.

If you’d like to see more about South Portland’s past, check out South Portland Historical Society’s free Online Museum. You can find over 17,000 images available for viewing at sphistory.pastperfectonline.com. South Portland Historical Society can be reached at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society.