Origins In 1936, the Boca Raton Airport was a small city airport. In 1941, in response to the emerging
Axis threat, the United States began to rapidly mobilize and expand its armed forces. In addition to enlarging its Army and Navy, the US also sought to expand its air forces. With America entering into
World War II, the
Army Air Corps suddenly underwent rapid expansion. The mild winter climate and the flat terrain of South Florida marked the areas as ideal for flying and aviation training. In the early-1940s, Boca Raton's population numbered only 723. This enabled the
United States government to take thousands of acres of land for its use without having to relocate a large number of people. The decision to locate the base at Boca Raton was made because of the already existing city airfield and the land which was available for its expansion. The land was acquired from the farmers through the process of condemnation. However, this is not to say that the establishment of the military airfield was without controversy. A majority of the land was acquired from
Japanese-American farmers from the failing
Yamato Colony, the land having been seized through the process of
eminent domain, leaving many Japanese-Americans little recourse in the early days of World War II. Today a myriad of cars, trucks and SUVs park on the same concrete that during World War II, B-17s and other historic aircraft occupied. East of the drainage canal, the former radar training base is now all but unrecognizable, the landscape being a mixture of homes, retention lakes and light commercial businesses. ==See also==