In 1941, a flying school teacher made a forced landing in a cotton patch at the corner of Buckner and John West Road and that was the beginning of the White Rock Airport.
Curtis Parker purchase the cotton patch to try his hand at aviation. M.D. Reeves became his partner.
The airport, located 6.7 miles from downtown Dallas on John West Road, boasted a north-south runway that was 2,450 feet long. There were also sod strips that could be used when weather permitted.
The 120-acre port had aircraft that ranged from Piper Cubs to twin Beehcraft, and at times, there were more than 100 planes there. Joe Grubbs, a “walking Dallas historian,” learned to fly at the airport. He learned to fly Cessnas and Piper Cubs, all single engine planes. His first instructor was Art Eder. Eder later trained British pilots at Abrams and Northwest Highway at Mustang Airport in the early ’40s.
The White Rock Airport was active until the mid-’70s, when the land became housing developments. Fox and Jacobs Home builders went into the area to build single-family homes and some multi-family housing was also built in the area.
There is no small airport serving the Lakewood/East Dallas area now, but there are great memories of those days when the small planes dotted the land of East Dallas.
Chloie Clements, a longtime neighborhood resident, writes about our history. She and her husband, Dick, work with Henry S. Miller Co. Send comments and ideas to her at 6301 Gaston, Suite 820; FAX to 214-823-8866.
