Prior to Navy use, the Site was a private airfield. Beginning in 1929, the airport was designated by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) as a civil emergency airfield known as Livermore Intermediate Airport.
On 24 March 1942 the Navy Department acquired the CAA Intermediate Airport at Livermore through Federal condemnation against the airport owners; Mr. James Anderson, et al. This acquisition measured 111.13 acres. The airport was commissioned as Outlying Field (OLF) Livermore and was subordinate to Naval Air Station (NAS) Livermore. On 27 November 1942, the Site was expanded by 150.20 acres which was acquired through the Federal condemnation process against Gandolfo Gudetti, et al. This acquisition allowed for a North/South runway.
OLF Livermore supported the training at NAS Livermore by providing an emergency airfield for the student pilots as well as providing an off-site location for training. OLF Livermore was one of 12 OLFs that surrounded NAS Livermore. During this period the primary aircraft using OLF Livermore would have been the Stearman N2S Kaydet, the Naval Air Factory N3N Yellow Peril, and the Timm N2T Tudor primary training aircraft.
The 1945 issue of the Army-Navy Directory of Airfields indicated that OLF Livermore had two sod and gravel runways (North/South, 4,000 x 300, and East/West, 3,700 x 300), and that no fuel or oil storage existed on-Site. Aviators were informed that such services were available at NAS Livermore. Records on file at the National Archives indicated that the field did have emergency electrical power generation systems to support airfield communications and lighting.
After NAS Livermore transitioned from being a pilot training installation to being a deployment staging area for Carrier Air Groups, carrier type aircraft such as F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat, and F4U Corsair fighters, TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, and SB2C Helldiver dive bombers would have used the Site for emergency landings and for overflow staging when the main base reached capacity. This mix of aircraft continued after World War II when NAS Livermore operated as a home for Naval Reserve aircraft until 1950, when that installation was transferred to the Atomic Energy Commission. This transfer resulted in all of the remaining OLFs associated with NAS Livermore becoming surplus to the needs of the U.S. Navy.
The General Services Administration quitclaimed the Site to the City of Livermore on 22 October 1953.
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Family Dwelling | Wood Frame, 1410 sq. ft. |
Family Dwelling | Wood Frame, 1410 sq. ft. |
Radio Powerhouse | Wood Frame |
Garage | Not specified |
Line Shack | Wood Frame, 129 sq. ft. |
Instrument House | Wood Frame |
Laundry | 80 sq. ft. |
Boundary Fence | 4-6 high x 15,670 linear feet |
Sanitary Sewer System | 6-inch vitrified tile/septic tank, 50 feet long |
Domestic Water System | ¾-inch steel pipe, 50 feet long |
Flagpole | Steel, 30 feet high |
Beacon Tower | Steel, 51 feet high |
Auxiliary Powerhouse | Not specified |
Flight Operations Building | Wood Frame |
Hangar | Not specified |
Hangar | Not specified |
Hangar | Not specified |
Lavatory | Not specified |
Tool House | Wood Frame |
Runway | Gravel, 300 x 4000 |
Runway | Sod, 300 x 3,700 |
Starting in 1953, the City of Livermore operated the Site as an
airfield. The airport was then known as the Livermore Sky Ranch,
the predecessor of the current Livermore Municipal Airport. In
December 1965 the Site was developed for residential use and Livermore
Municipal Airport was opened approximately 1 mile west of former
Livermore OLF. The Site currently contains hundreds of residential
lots, an elementary school, and two parks owned by the City of
Livermore.