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Oregon Historic Sites Database

address:2028 NW Berg Dr historic name:Madras Army Airbase North Hangar
Madras, Jefferson County current/other names:Madras Army Air Field North Hangar
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr:Madras Municipal Airport, 2028 NW Airport Way twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:
resource type:Building height (stories):1.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:0
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:c.1943 second date: date indiv listed:06/08/2015
primary orig use: Air Facility orig use comments:Defense: Air Facility
second orig use: Air Related
primary style: Utilitarian prim style comments:Aircraft Hangar
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Synthetic Siding: Other/Undefined siding comments:Asbestos
secondary siding:
plan type: architect:Coprs of Engineers
builder:U.S. Army
comments/notes:
WWII-era aircraft hangar designed to accommodate B-17 heavy bombers.
Not associated with any surveys or groupings.
NR date listed: 06/08/2015
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date:
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The Madras Army Air Field North Hangar is located on the grounds of Madras Municipal Airport, 2028 NW Berg Drive, approximately three miles northwest of the city center of Madras, Jefferson County, Oregon. Built as a B-17 hangar in 1943 as part of the Madras Army Air Field development, it is one of the few remaining buildings in the area that survive from the period of active use during World War II. Used primarily for aircraft storage today, an associated concrete apron extends out from the west elevation toward the airport’s triangular runway, with views of the valley’s vast agricultural lands and the Cascade Mountain Range in the distance. Large and rectangular in footprint, the wood-framed structure has a poured-concrete perimeter foundation, wide asbestos siding over wood sheathing, and a series of bowstring trusses supporting an arched roof clad in steel standing-seam metal roofing. The hangar consists of a substantial main massing with corner pier door pockets extending on both sides of the front (west) elevation and a single-story projection on the rear (east) elevation, encompassing over 10,000 square feet in total. Two sets of five wood-frame telescoping doors characterize the main (west) elevation, while the north and south elevations consist of two sets of vertically-oriented window bands, each including five window bays with three four-over-four double-hung wood windows. The interior of the hangar is open and massive in scale, spanned by five wooden bowstring trusses supported by substantial wood columns. While the rear shed-roof projection is converted into an apartment, the main hangar space is largely intact and retains a high degree of historic integrity.
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The Madras Army Air Field North Hangar, constructed on the former Madras Army Air Base three miles northwest of the city of Madras, Oregon, is significant under National Register Criterion A, Military, at the local level for its role in the mobilization and training of pilots from the U.S. Army Second and Fourth Air Forces during World War II. The Air Field was constructed in 1943 to accommodate bombardment squadrons and training for B-17 Bomber pilots. The Boeing B-17 was known as the “Flying Fortress” due to its immense size and ability to sustain heavy damage during combat. In 1944, operations at the base shifted toward training for smaller fighter planes, including the Bell P-39Q Airacobra, Bell P-63 Kingcobra, and Lockheed P-38 Lightning, extending the period of significance to 1945 when the base was deactivated by the U.S. Army. The rapid transformation of empty wheat fields into a fully-functioning air field and base stands as one of few local reminders of one of the nation’s outstanding war-time emergency projects. The North Hangar is also significant under Criterion C at the local level in the area of Architecture as a rare, intact example of a World War II-era military aircraft hangar. The Squadron OBH-2 type hangar is notable for its wood construction and bowstring truss system. The use of wood construction reflects the local environment, incorporating regionally abundant and inexpensive materials while meeting the Army’s demands for efficient construction. Designed to be a temporary structure to meet wartime needs, the hangar is significant as a surviving example of World War II-era hangar design. Relatively untouched except for early exterior changes following the war period, the hangar retains extremely high integrity, with the original materials and features still present and maintaining an exceptional association with its original setting due to continued aviation operations on the site.
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Bibliography:
Note: Very little documentation on the hangar and functions at the Madras Army Air Field exist locally. Primary documentation may be available in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. but was not accessible given the scope of this project. Aaron, Jayne. Historical and Architectural Overview of Aircraft Hangars of the Reserves and National Guard Installations from World War I through the Cold War. Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program, June 2011. Craven, Wesley F. and James Lea Cate, eds. The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume Six: Men and Planes. Chicago: University of Chicago Pres, 1955. Fletcher, Eugene. Mister: The Training of an Aviation Cadet in World War II. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1992. Futrell, Robert F. U.S. Air Force Historical Study No. 69: Development of AAF Base Facilities in the United States, 1939-1945. USAF Historical Division, 1951. Accessed at http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090601-058.pdf. Garner, John S. World War II Temporary Military Buildings: A Brief History of the Architecture and Planning of Cantonments and Training Stations in the United States. U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, March 1993. Jablonski, Edward. Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1965. Lent, Steve. Images of America: Madras. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2012. Madras Air Field Records, held by the Jefferson County Historical Society, Madras, OR. Madras Airport Commission Records, 1946-1956, held by the City of Madras, OR. Madras City Council Minutes, 1943-46, held by the City of Madras, OR. Madras Pioneer, various editions as cited in text. Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II: History and Insignia. Washington, D.C.: Zenger Publishing Co., 1961. Ramsey, Jarold. “Madras Airport in War and Peace.” The Agate, Spring & Summer 2009. _____, “Aircobra: In Memoriam Lt. Robert Cranson.” Northwest Review, No. 48, 1, 2010. Webster, Julie. Historical and Architectural Overview of Military Aircraft Hangars: A General History, Thematic Typology, and Inventory of Aircraft Hangars Constructed on Department of Defense Installations. United States Air Force Air Combat Command, 1998.