San Marcos Municipal Airport

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San Marcos Municipal Airport
IATA: HYI - ICAO: KHYI
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator City of San Marcos, Texas
Elevation AMSL 597 ft (182 m)
Coordinates 29°53′33.892″N, 097°51′46.815″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
8/26 6,330 1,929 Asphalt
13/31 5,603 1,708 Asphalt
17/35 5,213 1,589 Asphalt

San Marcos Municipal Airport (IATA: HYI, ICAO: KHYI) is a commercial airport located 4 miles E of San Marcos, Texas.

It is owned and operated by the City of San Marcos, Texas.

Contents

[edit] History

Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, San Marcos was selected as a training site for pilots and became the San Marcos Army Air Field. Over a 2 year period, approximately 10,000 highly trained air navigators were trained there.

With the end of World War II the base faced abandonment, but with the aid of Congressman Lyndon Johnson and Senator John Connally, the site was reactivated in May, 1946 to train Army Air Force personnel as helicopter pilots and renamed San Marcos Air Force Base. It was deactivated once again in October, 1949, but was reopened in January, 1951, to train pilots for the Korean War. With nearly 5000 men on duty, the base was home to the largest helicopter training facility in the nation. It trained mechanics as well as pilots.

On Armed Forces Day, May 16, 1953, the base once again received a new name, the Edward Gary Air Force Base in honor of Lieutenant Arthur Edward Gary, the first Hays County soldier killed in World War II.

The base was transferred to the U.S. Army in 1956 and underwent yet another name change, one which is still referred to by some locals today, Camp Gary. A civilian contractor trained pilots for fixed wing aircraft until the summer of 1959. In 1963, the base was essentially closed and marked for disposal.

Organized San Marcans fought to save the base, and on November 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced in a speech at his alma mater, Southwest Texas State University, that the abandoned Camp Gary would be the site of a new federal vocational training facility called Job Corps. Today it's known as the Gary Job Corps Center, the largest in the nation.

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Downtown San Marcos
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San Marcos, Texas
Government

City Hall · Hays County Courthouse · Fire · Library · Police
Transportation

Airport · CARTS · Interstate 35 · San Marcos Station
Education

Hays CISD · San Marcos Baptist Academy · San Marcos CISD · Texas State University
Companies

CFAN · Grande Communications · McCoys · Wide-Lite
Parks & Recreation

Aquarena Springs · Activity Center · Bobcat Stadium · City Park · Dunbar Park · Lucio Park · Playscape · Quail Creek Country Club · Rio Vista Park · San Marcos River · Sewell Park · Strahan Coliseum
Other

Austin · Edwards Aquifer · Freeman Ranch · Gary Job Corps · Hill Country · Lyndon Baines Johnson · Outlet Malls · San Antonio · San Marcos Springs · Wimberley · Wonder Cave · Wonder World