Matagorda Island AFB Texas

[RickH]

This ties in to Rob's question of aircraft archaeology.

Matagorda AFB was a satellite field for Victoria AFB during WWII. It has one of the largest L shaped concrete ramps I have ever seen. All concrete materials were barged out and a concrete plant was erected on site. It has 1 15,000 ft runway, 2 10,000 ft, and numerous shorter runways (at least 5000 ft.) About half of Matagorda Island was used as a bombing range well past the Viet Nam war. It was closed to the public through the Nicaragua/Contra timeframe. There were armed guards in civilian clothes ensuring that it stayed that way. ( You figure it out) It was turned over to the State of Texas and is now used as a state park.

OK, there's the background. Most of the airbase structures have been torn down. The ramp and runways still exist but remained closed. There are artifacts all around dating from the military use. None of that is being collected or identified by Park employees.

I asked why no one was trying to document the military history of the island. The answer was that there wasn't much money for the research it would probably never be done...and here is the kicker.. because what was being researched and studied was the pre European, prehistory Indian cultures !

This little island also had a Confederate garrison who constructed a still visible trench fortification, a cast Iron light house that is also from that time frame, and graves of several lighthouse keeper's family members who are still buried there.

Wouldn't you start with the latest most accessible information and work backward ?

This is the same mindset we see from other historical scholars in other govt organizations. They would rather study fragments than save complete nearly intact artifacts before they revert to fragments?

I just don't get it.

[DaveM2]

I would guess the older stuff is likely to disappear first, so quite logical to start their and work forward, but not before taking appropriate steps to make sure the more 'modern' stuff is protected to a degree.

Dave

[Tom Crawford]

Matagorda Island has always been a mystery to me. I used to wade fish along it's Northern shore and around the "Army Hole" adjacent to the boat dock but I never ventured onto the island. I wasn't sure of the restrictions because the Air Force still had some interest with an Air force supply boat going to and from Port O'Conner at the time. This was during the early to mid-sixties. I wonder what artifacts the Army found while excavating to construct the base? That would have been the time to recover Indian and
Confederate remains. There is another airstrip on the smaller island to the Northeast across Pass Cavallo from the main island. At that time sportsman could and would fly down, land and fish on this island. I've seen private planes sitting on the field there but not on the main island.
Tom

[RickH]

Tom, there are stories of tons of new equipment buried out in the sand. They didn't want to ship it back to the mainland. The southern end of the island is still pretty restricted. The ranch was turned over to the USFW about 15 years ago. That part of the island is across from the Aransas Wildlife Refuge where the Whooping Cranes are.

The other airstrip is still there. There is a huge square ramp. It is now privately owned and there are 3-4 beach houses on stilts built directly on the edge of the ramp. Theyv've been there for better than 25 years. They are very near the site of LaSalle's ship the Belle.

My point Dave is that things on the island that may belong to ancient Indian people have been on the island for as much as a 1000 years. We're talking thinngs like shell dumps, garbage piles, etc. They probably last a while longer While the small effort they have is focused on that, history you can actually touch, see, and research that guarantees some sort of reasonable compilation is being ignored. The people who were there who could give eyewitness accounts are disappearing daily. Why not get some of that now instead of worrying about 1000 year old Indians. They are important too, but there is no need for urgency with them.

[RickH]

Some very good ideas, Rob. Thanks

[bdk]

It is now privately owned and there are 3-4 beach houses on stilts built directly on the edge of the ramp.

Wonder if there is anything worth recovering on private property?

[RickH]

There might be BDk but we are talking a satellite training field and ramp. It is on a very narrow peninsula. It has the Gulf of Mexico on the one side and Matagorda Bay on the other. For those who might like to look at what we are talking about here is a link to abandoned airfields in the area.

http://members.tripod.com/airfields_fre ... #matagorda

Pretty interesting stuff all around. I had forgotten the tie in with Deke Slayton on the peninsula field. Something new for you guys to look up on google earth.

[Tom Crawford]

Hey I too had forgotten about Deke Slayton's Space, Inc. or whatever it was called. They had a launch site somewhere on one those islands.
I think the company is still around in some capacity.
Tom

[Rogue]

Ten years later, I wonder if anything has changed.
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/ ... offset=250

[pitts91hs]

We used to fish on the island. We would land on the old base and walk to the jetties. At one time there was an aircraft wreck there.

I used to fly a heavy equipment operator out to the south end before the launch that Deke Slayton was involved in. The operator was building the required facilities. We watched the launch from the observation tower on the refuge. Still fly by there once a week mainly to see if Cedar Bayou is still open.

[Chris Brame]

For those who might like to look at what we are talking about here is a link to abandoned airfields in the area.
http://members.tripod.com/airfields_fre ... #matagorda

Here's the current Abandoned Airfields page for the area:

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Air ... pus_NE.htm