Charles Lindbergh had not yet crossed the Atlantic when Fuller Flying Field was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day 1926. It was St. Petersburg's first airport and the third in Florida. Built to promote Walter P. Fuller's real estate and tourism ventures, Fuller would later call it “the best bootlegging point in America.”The performance of aerial stunts - also known as barnstorming - was a very popular form of entertainment during the Roaring 20's. On dedication day, nearly 40,000 spectators came to the Jungle to see an air show by M.E. Devoe and his Waco bi-plane (see article below).
Pictured: Tucketts Aviation trading card of the Waco 10 [1], similar to the plane seen at the 1926 dedication (see article below):
Dr. R.L. Piper owned a portion of the land that was needed to complete the airfield. As part of the negotiations, the field was renamed Piper-Fuller Field. Piper was also responsible for naming a street that was near the airfield - Tyrone Boulevard - as homage to his hometown of Tyrone, Pennsylvania.[2] Later came Tyrone Square Mall, Tyrone Middle School, Tyrone Veterinary Hospital, Tyrone Square Mazda, Tyrone Mini-Storage, Tyrone Barber Shop, Tyrone Frame and Mirror, Tyrone Gardens, and all the other Tyrones.
Piper-Fuller Field was located in the Jungle near the current Tyrone Square Mall, west of the Seaboard Air Line railroad tracks (where the Orange Blossom Special once traveled, now a portion of the Pinellas Trail), between 22nd Ave N and Tyrone Blvd.
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| Map of Piper-Fuller Flying Field superimposed on current street map. |
This article from the St. Petersburg Times describes the dedication of the flying field.
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Waco bi-plane on a grass field
The day of dedications began at the Municipal Pier, also known as the Million Dollar Pier.
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| State Archives of Florida |
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| State Archives of Florida |
In 1929, the field was certified by the U.S. Postal Department to be the location of St. Petersburg's first air mail service. For the inaugural mail run, the Goodyear blimp Vigilant was employed to deliver the mail from downtown to Piper-Fuller Field. (St. Petersburg Times, December 15, 1929. Photo colorized)
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The Goodyear blimp over St. Petersburg, perhaps carrying air mail to the Jungle.[3] (Colorized)
Oh the humanity! Did the air mail blimp just have a crash landing on the Jungle golf course?
No, it's a planned landing on a different golf course - somewhere in Ohio, but it is the same blimp - the Vigilant - that carried the first mail sacks from downtown St. Petersburg to Piper-Fuller Field. (Vintage postcard, colorized)
Piper-Fuller Airfield was in use until 1944. A tent city of 10,000 Army Air Corps trainees camped on the field and adjoining Jungle golf course in 1943[4] and the field was used at that time to practice takeoffs and landings. Commercial and industrial buildings now occupy the airfield property.
Recommended reading:
Jack Phillips - The History of Piper-Fuller Airport
Paul Freeman - Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields
[1] TvMovieCards.com
[3] Wagner, Francis G. and Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, "Goodyear Blimp flying over downtown St. Petersburg, including Straub Park, Bayshore Drive and Beach Drive, waterfront, Little St. Mary's, St. Petersburg Art Club, Lantern Lane, Soreno Hotel, Ponce de Leon Hotel, cars, buildings to west" (1925). Florida Studies Center Gallery. Image 8119.
http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/flstud_gallery/8119
[4] Raymond Arsenault, St. Petersburg and the Florida Dream, 1888-1950.
