Prince George’s County is home to another landmark of aviation history that can be seen this Black History Month.

The newest exhibit at the College Park Aviation Museum, located at 1985 Corporal Frank Scott Dr., tells the little-known story of the first black-owned and operated licensed general aviation airport in the country.

With many airports segregated at the time, four Black pilots from Howard University decided in 1941 to pool their resources and start their own airfield on a 450-acre potato field on land that is now part of the Patuxtent River Park in Prince George’s County.

Developed by John W. Greene Jr.,  who was a pioneer in black aviation, the Columbia Air Center, which was originally called Riverside Field, was used by the U.S. Navy during World War II for training missions, and then reopened after the war as a private airport with a flying school, charter services and even a civilian air patrol auxiliary for Black middle- and high-school students.

Until it closed in 1958, the airfield was also something of a community center, hosting motorcycle races and local dances. In 1963, all U.S. airports were officially desegregated.

The current exhibit at the College Park Aviation Museum features a restored Wayne Model 60 gas pump that was used at the Columbia Air Center as well as other photos and artifacts of local African-American aviation history.

You can also visit the site of the Columbia Air Center at 16000 Croom Airport Rd. in Upper Marlboro, which is home to a small monument.

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