Long Beach Airport releases commemorative posters celebrating 100 years of history
The series of four posters will be available for free at a public open house July 27 celebrating the re-opening of the historic terminal building.
Long Beach Airport is releasing a series of commemorative posters this week to celebrate the 100-year history of the airport and residents and visitors can get their copies this weekend at the grand opening of the renovated historic terminal building.
The first poster titled “Early Days of Aviation” was released Monday by the airport and shows an early Curtiss Flyer Model D flying over the shoreline in Long Beach with other planes parked on the sand.
The poster pays homage to the earliest days of flight in the city before the airport was established in 1923 and pilots would land on the city’s sandy beaches.
In total, the airport is releasing four commemorative posters all styled similarly to the Works Projects Administration’s national park photos, according to a release form the airport.
A second poster titled “Historic Terminal” will feature the terminal building, which had most recently served as the ticketing lobby for the airport before a massive terminal improvement project started in 2020 that built a new ticketing building as well as other improvements to baggage handling and traffic circulation upgrades.
That poster will show a Douglas DC-3 passenger plane’s silhouette through the runway-facing windows of the historic terminal building, according to the release.
The third and fourth posters titled “Keep Em Flying” and “Welcome to Long Beach” will feature the city’s aircraft manufacturing history and its contributions to the war effort during World War II. That poster will show a B-17 Flying Fortress mid-flight, some of which were built by the Douglas Aircraft Company.
A DC-3 plane flying over the city’s coastal skyline includes the historic Villa Riviera, Breakers Hotel and the Pike’s Cyclone Racer rollercoaster will be featured in the final poster.
All posters are expected to be posted by the airport’s social media channels over the next few days and physical copies of the 8 x 10 posters will be available for free at the July 27 grand opening and open house event.
“These commemorative posters showcase how our beloved and iconic Long Beach Airport has played a vital role over the past century in connecting our community to the world, fostering economic growth and serving as a source of inspiration for pioneering aviators,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in the release.
The airport is celebrating the grand opening of the historic terminal building, which will now serve as the rental car lobby. Crews have been working for years to restore tile mosaics on the terminal’s floor and on other improvements to the site as part of a $17.8 million project.
The mosaics were created by artist Grace Clements in 1941, who was hired through the Works Projects Administration. Clements designed several mosaics and murals for the airport before the terminal building opened in 1942.
Earlier this year, the City Council asked for a report back on creating a historic corridor to further celebrate the facility’s history and the city’s ties to the history of flight.
The public open house is scheduled for July 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include history tours, music, giveaways and light refreshments. The airport is providing three hours of free parking at Parking Structure B.
For more information on the airport’s 100th anniversary click here.
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