Terminal Way - Where San Carlos Learned to Fly

A stop on San Carlos History Walk, a free self-guided tour.

Look around at the offices and parking lots: this was once an airfield. During World War I, J. Paulding Edwards opened the San Carlos Flying Field on open ground east of today's Old County Road. A hangar about 300 feet long stood along the western end of Terminal Way, and the airport's first terminal sat at the corner of Old County Road and Terminal Way. San Carlos issued its first pilot's license on July 10, 1917.

In 1923 the Cooley family took over. Charles Cooley was the main flight instructor, and his father, Frank, ran the field. For almost two decades, small planes came and went just across the tracks from downtown. Then on July 12, 1940, fire destroyed the main hangar and twelve aircraft.

Nothing of the field survives; the street name is the best reminder. Stand at the corner, look east along Terminal Way, and picture biplanes taxiing where cars now park.

Getting here: Walk back to the depot and cross the tracks at the station to Old County Road, then turn right and walk a couple of blocks south to Terminal Way.

Did you know?: In the mid-1930s the Cooleys also ran a second field near the foot of today's Twin Dolphin Drive, but nearby sloughs kept its runway short.

Photo op: Stand at the corner of Old County Road and Terminal Way and shoot east down the street, the line where the long hangar once stood.

Terminal Way - Where San Carlos Learned to Fly

Stops on this tour