Crissy Field

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A park in San Francisco, Crissy Field was originally a rich salt marsh, and a gathering ground for the native people. It later served as the landing site of Spanish explorers and Russian, English and Boston traders. Shortly after the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915) was held there in 1915 it became one of America's foremost military airfields and a portion of an American army post.

When the Post Office scouted for a suitable landing field in San Francisco, none presented better possibilities than the U.S. Army Air Service airport, then called the Flying Field at the Presidio.

Major Henry "Hap" Arnold led the successful effort to change the name to Crissy Field in honor of Major Dana H. Crissy, who crashed and died in October 1919 in a de Havilland DH-4B during an Air Service transcontinental reliability test.

Under the auspices of the Air Mail Service, San Francisco and Crissy Field gained fame as the site of many early aviation milestones.

On September 11, 1920, airmail pilot Edison Mouton, flying the final leg of the first transcontinental run, landed at San Francisco’s Marino Field. (One year later the Post Office moved from Marino Field to the Army’s Crissy Field.) The date was September 11, at 2:20 p.m. The actual flying time for the bold experiment, 34 hours and 5 minutes, elapsed time 75 hours and 52 minutes. Upon landing, Mouton was greeted by eager dignitaries and a bevy of flashing camera bulbs.

Anticipation gripped San Francisco and the nation on February 21, 1921, the day of the experimental first day/night transcontinental. At 4:30 a.m. two planes departed from New York and two from Crissy Field, piloted by Farr Nutter and Ray Little. Two and one half hours later, after crossing the 14,000-foot Sierra Nevada range, Nutter and Little landed in Reno. Their successful effort, in combination with that of the other east and westbound pilots, launched Air Mail.

Crissy Field played a major role in trial night flying. On August 21, 1923, the first day of the four-day demonstration of the transcontinental service, airmail pilot Claire K. Vance completed the west-bound flight, landing at Crissy Field at 6:24 p.m. It was also the terminus of the Air Service's "dawn to dusk" transcontinental speed flight on June 23, 1924. Taking off from Mitchel Field, New York, in a modified Curtiss PW-8 fighter, 1st Lt. Russell Maughan crossed the United States in 21 hours 48 minutes, landing in front of 50,000 people at Crissy.

In 1962, along with the entire Presidio of San Francisco, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.

During 1998-2000, individuals and groups from schools, civic organizations and corporations planted over 100,000 native plants, in efforts to restore natural systems at Crissy Field. Community volunteers are still an important part of the efforts to maintain long-term stewardship of Crissy Field.

Today Crissy Field remains a mecca for windsurfers and kite surfers. The summer winds which build in the early afternoon make for spectacular sailing and spectacting.

Crissy Field

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