Chapter Four
HENDRICKS FIELD 1941-45
The selection of
But, although quite a few individuals had suffered intensely
because of the depression the City was in a remarkably good economic condition,
particularly as compared to other municipalities. When construction of
Hendricks Field was started, all the favorable predictions of the Sebring
American were fulfilled- i.e., it was a blessing; it brought a payroll, and it
started Sebring growing again.
The announcements of the site selection and the award of the
contract for construction, were practically concurrent for, on July 9, 1941,
Cleary Brothers (a Florida East Coast firm) began work on a contract involving
$5,896,655.00. To expedite movement of materials, the first efforts were made
toward building a rail spur into the area. This was accomplished by early
September and by that time, a power line had been built from Sebring and work
was being pushed to complete permanent access roads for the better movement of
workmen and supplies.
Any man with a saw, hammer and square was hired immediately,
with or without references or experience. And the wages were fabulous: $1.00 an hour for journeymen and 50 cents for
apprentices! The trade unions (for the first time in Sebring history) were in
control of all hiring as the project was on a “closed shop” basis. A nonunion
man signed for membership at the time he was employed and, if he did not have
the $50.00 affiliation fee (which most did not) he could assign a weekly
deduction of $5.00 from his pay until $60.00 was paid in. If, at the end of the
12 weeks, it was found that he had misrepresented his ability, he was
discharged but this did not prevent him from being hired immediately by another
craft and going through the same union routine. So, if a man flunked out as a
carpenter, he could start over as a plumber or electrician. Manpower was in
short supply in all trades although men came from all parts of
The target date for the starting of the flying training
program was November 8th but many changes of plans were made as well as changes
of the proposed purpose of facility. Progress was remarkably rapid and, by the
first week in October, it was possible to move the offices of the construction
company and the army officers in charge of planning and inspection, from the
Hotel Sebring to the new base. The initial cadre of enlisted men also moved at
that time. These 118 men had arrived in Sebring in the first week of September
and had made camp in tents where
Although the
A county-wide civil defense unit was organized and classes
were held almost every night to instruct the many volunteers in first aid,
airplane identification, fire fighting and other local protection measures. All
citizens were urged to go to the court house to be finger printed. The local
chapter of the Red Cross was reorganized and volunteers rushed to staff its
several committees.
Many of the community’s business and professional men were
assigned duties on the many government-established control boards, such as:
tire and gasoline rationing; the draft board; rent controls, rationing of meat,
sugar and other foodstuffs; price controls, etc., etc.
Some type of entertainment was arranged almost every night
for the enlisted personnel. The young ladies of town were dance partners and
party hostesses while the older women acted as chaperons. Food production
programs; paper and scrap metal collection drives, bond sales, recruiting
efforts and many other activities were organized until every resident of
Sebring was working on several of the numerous organizations.
The governing bodies of the city and county also were
overloaded with work in support of the new base. The City Council had put in a
year of intensive effort, before the public announcement was made. Under the
leadership of Payne Sebring and Vernon Higgins and with the very active help of
Ford Heacock and Ed Hasti,
they had mastered the problem of acquiring the 9,200 acres needed for the base
with ancillary plots on
The Sebring power plant which had been operating at about
half capacity, suddenly became inadequate to handle the demands. Upon the
Council was put the bonus of doubling the capacity, at the same time the nation
was gearing itself to enter the war and all heavy machinery manufacturers were
swamped with government contracts. But government agencies were aware of the
impact that would be made on any community that would be faced with the sudden
influx of eight to ten thousand people so they not only arranged a high
delivery priority but also agreed to pay $85,000 which was approximately half
of the $134,000 price tag on two huge diesel-powered generators. Within a few
months after the installation of the new equipment, there was very little
reserve power in the plant even though the total capacity was twice the
original.
Other adjustments were necessary. The water supply had to be
augmented with the addition of two new wells and the laying of new and larger
mains to sections of town where new homes were being built. But, due to the
fact that materials for the extension of lines were not available, the Council
was forced to declare a moratorium on new connections to the supply lines of
domestic gas. As a defense measure, the government also issued a priority
certificate and a substantial contribution toward an additional piece of
fire-fighting equipment for the Sebring Fire Department.
Immediately following the announcement that Sebring had been chosen
as a site for a defense installation, advance army personnel and contractors’
employees moved in and absorbed all available housing. An appeal was made to
register any rental units or even rooms that could be rented and a rent-control
board was appointed to prevent “rent gouging.” It was estimated that the town’s
population jumped to 8,000 before the end of October which was prior to the
staffing of the new base. With the arrival of the enlisted men and officers,
more housing was essential, so authorization was issued for the construction of
193 units for housing civil service employees and noncommissioned men with
families. These units were erected on land which the City owned and turned over
to the government. (The area later became known, for some unknown reason; as “
“Splinter City” Highlands Homes built to accommodate non-commissioned officers and civilian personnel at Hendricks Field.
Photo courtesy of Sebring Historical Society.
Fifty homes were authorized for construction on
As was the case in all defense installation areas, the wives
and sweethearts of service men wanted to be near their men so hundreds of the
women came to Sebring and took whatever accommodations they could find,
regardless of convenience or comfort. Beds and stoves were installed in the
most unbelievable locations; even in such outbuildings as those which had been
used for housing chicken flocks. Many couples were happy to be able to find
even these.
Negotiations for the extensions of the utilities; for the
funding and approval of housing; for the acquisition of land and for numerous
other accommodations; all were on the agenda of the City Council. They, with
the cooperation of the
This road building, the huge building program in town and the
municipal improvements were all in addition to the $140,000 weekly payroll at
the new base. So Sebring was booming!
Another chapter in the story began following the declaration
of war in December, At that point in time, defense tactics practice really
began in earnest. The water and power plants were placed under guard around the
clock and a guard was even assigned to the little airport west of the lake.
Practice blackouts were called. Business houses and homes were inspected by
air-raid wardens to eliminate hazardous conditions. Several stations were
established and manned by “plane spotters.” The draft was initiated in January
1942 and the first name drawn was H. W. Long.
To better keep the public informed on national and local
military developments, officers and other personnel from Hendricks Field (so
named in January 1942) gave talks to the various civic clubs and other
gatherings and, in cooperation, the city established USO headquarters at the
pier and in the quarters and also provided entertainment on occasions, at the
field. One such occasion was provided by Fred Stone and Rex Beach.
When the committee made its initial proposals to the
government in June 1940, it promised cooperation and, as long as Hendricks
Field remained as an active military installation, Sebring fulfilled every
promise far beyond any reasonable expectation!
The great war ended in the summer of 1945 and, in November,
the government announced that Hendricks Field was one of the many training
bases that would be inactivated. The notice was not received in Sebring with
any feeling of regret or disappointment except in the official circles of the
Chamber of Commerce and the City Council. The Chamber Secretary and the City
Clerk were authorized to make every possible effort to have the base retained
on the list of active installations. But the attitude of the public was, in
general, one of relief- possibly a wish to return to the earlier atmosphere of
“manyana”.
It was learned that the government would retain one of the
several big bomber training fields and that the number of prospective sites had
been trimmed to four, in the eastern United States- Ft. Myers, Florida;
Chillicothe, Ohio; Smyrna, Tennessee, and Sebring. Although it appeared, for a
time, that Sebring would be successful, the
Effective on the 31st of December 1945, Hendricks Field was
officially closed and was turned over to the War Assets Administration (WAA)
for custodial care and disposal. A cadre of military personnel remained to
assist in dismantling the facility.
The City Administration, at that time, could be considered as
“conservative” and there were to be difficult decisions as they were beset on
one hand by a committee of the Chamber of Commerce to take over the airport
from the government and, on the other hand, by citizens and some business
interests, to refuse to accept the responsibility of operating it. A great many
citizens viewed it as a “white elephant” which would entail an annual
“maintenance cost of upwards of $50,000.” They felt that the original costs to
the city had been fully amortized and that the area should be permitted to
revert to use as pasture land.
But a small group argued that acceptance of the landing
facilities would, circumvent future expenditures for providing aviation needs and
that the entire area could be converted into an industrial complex thereby
removing from the city any threat of noxious odors, noise and other nuisances
attendant to manufacturing and commercial activities. Thus, industry could be
attracted to Sebring without interfering with the highly desirable tourist and
retiree business.
Representatives of the WAA made several visits to the city
before the Council agreed to accept the cancellation of the 99 year lease in
exchange for the aviation facilities.
These facilities included only such buildings as contributed to the
promotion and/or maintenance of aircraft and their use, and the utilities
(water supply, sewage, fire protection, etc.).
The record of a meeting of the City Council as narrated in
the Highlands County News, dated March 14, 1946 faithfully illustrates the
stance taken by the Council in its negotiations with the WAA:
COUNCIL REFUSES LICENSE
Declines to Accept Temporary License
As Presented By Government
The fact that the City of Sebring is not going to any expense
in the operation of Hendricks Field was brought out in a special meeting of the
Sebring City Council Friday afternoon when they met with representatives of the
government in regard to transfer of Hendricks Field to the city for operation.
The council members passed up acceptance of the temporary license for the
operation of the field.
Representatives of the government present at the meeting were
E. H. Bank, Corps of Engineers; D. W. Cole, of the Civil Aeronautics
Administration; and Mr. Pritchard representative of the War Assets Corporation.
The city council at their meeting last Tuesday accepted the
report of the Airport Committee as presented by Floyd Schumacher, committee
chairman, as follows:
“The airport committee recommends that
the City, pending governmental action on its request for permanent acquisition
of Hendricks Field, equipment and facilities for use as a municipal airport
continue to pursue the promotional policies now in effect. In order to more effectively implement this
program, we ask that there be appointed as airport manager, A. C. Altvater, for
the period of our occupancy of the field under the temporary permit, that he
may properly represent the city subject to the will of the council through its
airport committee.
“It is the conclusion of this
committee that considerable progress in finding permanent use for Hendricks
Field has been made, but that much work must yet be done before we can
determine whether the field can be operated to advantage or profit to the city.
We further suggest that the city council adopt as a permanent policy, that no
attempt to operate the field on a permanent basis, be made except under terms,
conditions and purposes that will at least assure its self maintenance.
“We recommend that the Chamber of
Commerce be compensated for the loan of the services of their secretary by
payment to them by the city of a sum each month during the life of this
arrangement, equivalent to one-half the secretary’s monthly salary.”
Mr. Schumacher stated this week that the city had refused the
acceptance of the temporary license of the field because of the conditions
contained in the permit were almost wholly unacceptable to the city.
In order to more clearly understand the situation, it would be
well to give the structure of local groups interested in the airport. Floyd Schumacher, Ralph Eyman
and Kenneth Johnson made up the council committee. These were all astute businessmen who could
not be stampeded into an unprofitable deal either by a government agency or by
an overzealous Chamber of Commerce committee.
Those citizens who did not approve of the acquisition of the facility,
were not organized and offered no active opposition. Local endorsers of a plan to use the airport
were led by Payne Sebring, A. W. Estes, Jack Stephenson and “Rollo”
Negotiations continued for several months with delegations
from the government urging acceptance and the council steadfastly insisting
that the conditions were not acceptable.
Late in April, an agreement was reached which was reported as follows:
CITY
COUNCIL WILL ACCEPT
H.F. AIR BASE
Will Not Expend Funds Others Than
Receipts From Field
Hendricks Field will be leased (sic) by the City of
It was pointed out by one member of the city council that
within the next few years the city would probably spend several thousand dollars
to develop an airport on the land acquired by the city for that purpose several
years ago. He emphasized the fact that the city would not at this time assume
any responsibility that might entail a financial obligation that would require
the expenditure of funds other than funds derived directly from the airport.
This article was
originally published for the Sebring Historical Society
in Bulletin No. 16,
January 1974, as well as in a collection
entitled, Olio, January 1979 by A. C. Altvater.