History of Penfield Aviation Training Center in Travis County


By: Claudia Hazlewood

Published: 1952

Updated: September 1, 1995

Penfield (Penn Field) was an aviation training center established near Austin in Travis County during World War I. Barracks, commissaries, and landing fields were constructed, and a railroad spur connected the installation with the Missouri Pacific system. In 1919 the site was sold to the Woodward Manufacturing Corporation, and the railroad track was sold to Bergstrom Air Force Base in 1940.

TSHA is a proud affiliate of University of Texas at Austin
Mary Starr Barkley, History of Travis County and Austin, 1839–1899 (Waco: Texian Press, 1963).

Places:

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Claudia Hazlewood, “Penfield, TX,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/penfield-tx.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

TID: HRP23

1952
September 1, 1995

Find out more about this place from our Texas Almanac.

Place
Penfield
Currently Exists
No
Place Type
Town
Town Fields
  • Has post office: No
  • Is Incorporated: No
Belongs to
  • Travis County
Associated Names

Penn Field

Coordinates
  • Latitude: 30.22873700°
  • Longitude: -97.75992100°

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