Waterbury-Oxford Airport – Part III

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Gustave Whitehead is shown here with his daughter and one of his planes, aircraft “No. 22.” Some historians believe Whitehead was the first man to fly a powered aircraft, in 1901, two years before the Wright brothers, in Fairfield, Connecticut, about 23 air miles from the Oxford Airport. (Library of Congress photo).

By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

The Terryville section of the town of Plymouth (1960 population 9,000), rests among the metropolitan titans of Waterbury (107,000), Bristol (46,000) and Torrington (30,000). In September 1961, Terryville squared off with the Chambers of Commerce of those cities, along with federal and state agencies, who were seeking to build a regional airport on the existing Mt. Tobe airfield or the Town Hill-Fairgrounds area. Terryville residents were overwhelmingly against the idea, but before that would resolve itself, another “David and Goliath” clash had to be settled elsewhere.

By April 1959, the Federal Aviation Administration had determined a regional airport serving primarily Waterbury and Torrington should be built in the tiny towns of Morris (1,200) and Bethlehem (1,500) for an estimated cost of $3 million. At a town meeting, only three out of more than 300 residents of those towns who attended voted for the idea, heightening the opposition, but not stopping the crusade.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce of Waterbury, under Richard P. Crane, chair of its Airport Committee, and the chambers of Torrington and Bristol, and other agencies were promoting Plymouth as the ideal location. In August 1961, the FAA granted approval for an airport in the Town Hill section of Terryville, to serve Bristol, Torrington and Waterbury.

In September, the Plymouth Anti-Airport Committee (PAAC) was formed and began actively opposing an airport in town. At a town meeting, Plymouth citizens decisively voted down an airport in their town, 537 to 42, and the Terryville Chamber of Commerce followed suit.

The PAAC focused on the crucial issue, “Who had the legal authority to establish an airport in Connecticut, the state, or the town?” In January 1962, Governor John N. Dempsey, at the urging of the PAAC, reaffirmed that the establishment of an airport required approval of both the State Aeronautics Commission and the municipality where the airport would be placed.

It was a happy coincidence that Waterbury had fought to build an airport in Wolcott in 1945. In response, Rep. Rose E. Wakelee (R-Wolcott) had successfully submitted legislation in that year that prohibited the state from establishing an airport without the town’s permission.

The clashes were coming to a head, but not without another twist. In January 1963, Rep. William C. Hogan (D-Bristol) submitted legislation to place the airport in Wolcott, but residents formed the Wolcott Citizens Committee for Airport Action, and the issue never went further.

To support Waterbury’s campaign, Rep. LaVergne H. Williams (R-Columbia) and three others introduced legislation to give the state unbridled power to establish an airport in any town without the town’s consent. Subsequently, Senator William J. Verriker (D-Waterbury) introduced a bill that called for a regional airport in the Town Hill section of Terryville.

Plymouth First Selectman Patrick J. Bourassa threatened that if Verriker’s bill passed, he would refuse “to sign a contract with the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers for the Hancock Brook dam planned in the southern part of the town.” Fortunately, none of the legislation succeeded, and two months later, Bourassa signed the contract.

Finally, in May 1963, the Connecticut General Assembly Transportation Committee tabled all bills calling for construction of an airport in Terryville, with no further action that session. As the dust settled, Bethlehem, Morris, Wolcott and Plymouth had all been victorious in thwarting colossal forces from forcing a regional airport upon their towns.

Attention was redirected when, on May 13, 1963, Oxford town voters approved a referendum for the construction of a regional airport in their town, by a vote of 540 to 324. Nevertheless, it was not until September 1964, that Richard P. Crane, and members of the Connecticut Department of Aeronautics announced their abandonment of efforts to locate the airport in Plymouth. The bright side was that, unlike the other towns, Oxford residents actually welcomed an airport.

You are urged to join the Middlebury Historical Society by going online at MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or visiting them on Facebook. Questions about membership can be sent to Bob at robraff@comcast.net.