{"nrhp_refnum":"07001456","name":"Davis Field","other_names":["Bayport Aerodrome"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"2nd St. & 3rd Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bayport","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.760472833500046,"lon":-73.08294487289055,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-01-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Davis Field, also known as the Bayport Aerodrome, is a grass-runway recreational airfield in the hamlet of Bayport, Suffolk County, New York, established in 1945 by Curtis Davis, Sr. and now owned by the Town of Islip.","why_significant":"The field is significant under Criterion A as a surviving example of the small recreational airfields that once dotted Long Island, tied to the postwar revival of private flying by returning veterans. Under Criterion C it represents pre-1950 airport design, with its original grass airstrip layout and two surviving hangars. A relocated late-nineteenth-century butcher shop serves as a pilot's lounge and flight school office.","narrative":"Davis Field, also called the Bayport Aerodrome, is a grass-strip airfield in Bayport, Suffolk County, New York. Curtis Davis, Sr., a Civil Air Patrol pilot during World War II, established it in 1945 on land his father had bought in 1910 and used as a cornfield. The historic core includes two parallel grass runways, two steel-frame hangars, and a small butcher shop built around 1898 in Sayville and moved to the field about 1945, where it now serves as a pilot's lounge and flight school office. One hangar was moved within the property around 1985 to meet federal aviation rules. The field recalls the period after World War II when returning veterans revived recreational flying and small airfields were common across Long Island. The Town of Islip bought the field in 1978 after neighbors protested a housing proposal. It remains active, hosting flight schools and the Bayport Aerodrome Society, which restores vintage aircraft.","period_of_significance":"1945-1953","architect_builder":"Curtis Davis, Sr.","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still an active airfield with two aviation schools and the Bayport Aerodrome Society, which restores vintage aircraft; the butcher shop interior was recently restored by the Town of Islip.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.918596-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/07001456.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001456/e08273692b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001456/e08273692b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"DanTD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bayport_Aerodrome;_Hangar_behind_Fence.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">DanTD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bayport_Aerodrome;_Hangar_behind_Fence.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322084","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayport_Aerodrome","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2265670"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/davis-field-07001456/"}