A look back at nearly a century of Reno airport history

The airport now known as Reno-Tahoe International traces its roots to 1927, when aviator Charles Lindbergh landed at the original airstrip, then called Blanch Field. According to the account, Lindbergh's landing nearly ended in disaster after his aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis, came close to striking parked cars and other obstacles on the field. He reportedly warned afterward that the airfield was unsafe and needed substantial improvement.

That warning prompted Boeing Transport Inc. to buy roughly 120 acres of land east of the original site in 1928, with plans to build a more modern airfield intended mainly as a stop for airmail service. Construction finished in 1929, and the new facility was named Hubbard Field.

United Airlines ran the airport for several years before it was sold to the City of Reno for use as a municipal airport. During World War II, the site was also used temporarily as a United States Air Force base.

The airport's first major expansion came in the late 1950s, when a main passenger terminal was built ahead of the 1960 Winter Olympics, held nearby in Squaw Valley, California. That project marked a significant shift in the airport's capacity and status as an international gateway.

The piece also notes that the airport is now included among locations with a continuous, automated live video stream showing takeoffs and landings around the clock, covering passenger, cargo and general aviation traffic.