Jones Field

Jones Field is a county airfield at Bonham, the Fannin county seat. Originally the field served as a flight-training center for army pilots during World War II. The federal contract authorizing the building of the base was approved on June 25, 1941. Construction began on July 1 and was completed in mid-September. The contract established the Bonham Aviation School as the civilian contractor for the 302d Squadron of the United States Army Air Force. The first cadets arrived on October 1, 1941, and trained in Fairchild PT-19s. Over the next few years more than 5,000 pilots received flight instruction under group commanders at Jones under Ladd Moore and Harry A. Welter. Five months after the surrender of Germany, the army deactivated Jones Field. For a number of years the airstrip remained abandoned. By the early 1960s, however, the 3,000-foot runway had once again become the site for flight training, this time for civilian pilots. Renamed Jones Airport, the airstrip also served as the home for transit aircraft and local pilots involved in spraying operations. An average twenty-three planes were kept at the airport in 1976.