This Day In History: Reagan National Airport Opened 76 Years Ago

ARLINGTON, VA — On this day 76 years ago, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport opened for business. National Airport, now known as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, opened June 16, 1941.

According to the airport's website, airport facilities in DC were "seriously inadequate" throughout the early 20th century. Between 1926 and 1938, Congress produced reams of debate transcripts and 37 committee reports on the need for a new airport, but no action was taken.

In the fall of 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said he was "tired of waiting for Congress" to select a site for a new airport. He decided the airport would be built on mudflats at Gravelly Point, about five miles south of DC.

Airport construction started two months later, on November 21, 1938. National Airport then opened for businesses on June 16, and President Roosevelt attended a ceremony at the new airport and saw the first official landing.

When it first opened, National Airport was thought of as "the 'last word' in airports – a concentration of the ultramodern developments in design of buildings, handling of planes, air traffic and field traffic control, field lighting, facilities for public comfort and convenience, and surface vehicle traffic control," according to the airport's website.

There was much debate whether the airport was located in DC or Virginia, since DC "owned" the Potomac River to Virginia and claimed the boundary had been set at the high water mark along the shoreline in 1846. In 1945, Congress approved a bill that fixed the airport boundary at the mean high water mark, placing the airport in Virginia.

See more about the airport's history here.

Photo: Ron Cogswell/Flickr