On June 6th, 1929, the Hamilton Municipal Airport was opened in what is now the Roxborough Park survey. This area is west of the present day Hillsdale, and extends towards Parkdale Avenue. The premier of Ontario, G. Howard Ferguson opened up the airport at 5 pm.

This is a view of the airport shortly after it opened. The Red Hill Creek valley can be seen in the foreground, and Barton Street is in the middle distance of the picture. (Photo courtesy of H.P.L. Special Collections, 1156-4 rjw). A picture of the hangar at the airport.

The Aero Club flew under a government mandate, therefore, the Airport was available to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) for flight training. The 19th bomber squadron was formed in Hamilton in 1935, and were renumbered 119(B) in 1937. They flew DH-60 Moths at the Municipal Airport until 1939, when they were sent to the coast. This squadron spent the war doing coastal reconnaisance in Bolingbroke and Hudson bombers.

Many people flew in for the occasion. These included the Vice-President for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. The biggest visitors on the day however were two Goodyear blimps. The Puritan, and the Mayflower came from Akron, Ohio. The public could ride on these blimps for a view of the city from the air.

The Hamilton Municipal Airport pioneered Airmail service when it opened on June 6th, 1929. Parcels were flown in to local businesses, and greetings and letters were sent out from the airport on an aircraft of the CPR Express. The airport was also the first municipal airport in Eastern Canada to have paved runways with night lighting. The Hamilton Aereoclub was the first in Canada to teach night flying at this airport. Here is a picture of the airport in 1939.

In the early 1950s, there was talk of using the airport land in order to make a mall, or a housing project. In the end, it was decided the housing project would be the most suitable use. This housing project would cost $5,000,000 and there would 496 units. There was a contest held by Parkdale businesses to name the project. C.F. Woodward, of 177 Glennie Avenue, was the winner. He suggested the name of the new survey be Roxborough Park Housing Project. He was awarded a TV for winning the contest.

The former airport land was carved into 40x100 lots, and it was decided that these homes would be rental homes. None of these homes could be bought. Rents were between $58 (Cottage) and $68 (2 Storey-6 Room) a month, and prospective tenants had to be married, have at least two children, and could not earn more than $6000 a year in income. Applicants these homes applied to the City Welfare Department, and were chosen from the Department of Welfare registry.

The old hangar of the airport was left standing while the project was completed because it was used to store lumber. On December 17th, 1952, the first house in this new Project was completed. The location of it was 20 Sumach Street. Here is a picture of homes replacing hangers in 1978.

Another big cost that the Federal, Provincial, Municipal had to endure was the cost of bringing running water to the area. According to former Hillcrest student, Dan Harris, there was not much running water in the area in 1945. From Hillcrest Middle School to Parkdale, only the school and people living on Reid Avenue had running water. This was because the airport was located on Reid Avenue. Children used to take a bath by swimming in the Red Hill Creek.

This project was lauded by some, and looked down upon by others. The City of Scarborough was modelled after this East Hamilton housing project, that was located on the old Hamilton Civic Airport property.

In 1930, there was a very exciting fly-by of the British dirigible R-100.

Map of Airports in Hamilton in early 1930s

To to the left is an overhead shot of the airport in 1934. The airport can be seen towards the left hand side of the picture, with the Red Hill Creek below it.

Here is a dangerous situation with a happy ending in the 1970s, when a pilot got lost and tried to land his plane on the old runway! You can see Hillcrest in the back with the air raid siren on the roof.