As the nation tried to recover from the Great Depression in 1935, influential Tampa citizens gained funding for the Peter O Knight Airport on Davis Islands. Named after Tampa lawyer Peter Oliphant Knight, the Works Progress Administration funded $105,343 to build the project, including a seaplane basin. The structure originally had a restaurant and a dance floor. Eastern and National Airlines operated from the airport until 1946, when both companies relocated to Drew Field (now Tampa International Airport), a decommissioned Air Force Base, following a National Airline plane crash at Peter O. Knight. As commercial airlines got bigger, the runways on Davis Island could no longer accommodate them.

In 1952, a group of residents wanted the building for the Davis Island Yacht Club but were denied. By 1958, the facilities had deteriorated so badly that the county aviation administration considered abandoning them. The original administration building was demolished and replaced in 1965 with a 2100 sq ft, $65,000 building designed with a flight theme featuring a parabolic roof and snack bar. It promoted itself as a smaller, more transient airport. That building and one other comprise the administration building and pilot lounge today.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved