Article

Miller Field Seaplane Hangar Virtual Tour

Miller Field is located on Staten Island in New York. As U.S. involvement in World War I became increasingly certain, the joint Army and Navy Board on Aeronautical Cognizance decided a system of aerial coast defense stations was needed to supplement the existing coastal defense network. The Secretary of War approved the creation of the stations in 1918, and Congress appropriated funds for construction of eight, of which only Miller Field on the East Coast and Chrissy Field on the West Coast were built. Miller Field was garrisoned by various military units and the New York National Guard until 1969, when it was declared surplus property. The Seaplane Hangar served an important function at Miller Field, and the steel-frame, cast-in-place concrete structure with terra-cotta structural tile curtain walls is an early example of hangar technology. In addition, Miller Field and the hangar are associated with significant events and pioneers in aviation history.

Project Information

Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) undertook Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation the Miller Field Seaplane Hangar in 2016-17. Gateway National Recreation Area (Marilou Ehrler, Chief of Cultural Resources) sponsored the project. Dana Lockett, Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Architect, served as project manager. He and Ryan Pierce, Architect, laser scanned the structure to create an accurate three-dimensional point cloud representation of the site. Ryan Pierce used this data to produce a fly-through video of the point cloud and a panoramic photo virtual tour for site interpretation. Justine Christianson, HAER Historian, wrote the historical report. Jarob J. Ortiz, HDP photographer, produced the large-format photographs. Felice Ciccione, Gateway National Recreation Area, provided research assistance and access to the park's archives. The 2016-17 project gathered new data to supplement the previous documentation from 1978-79 that included measured drawings.

Tags

Gateway National Recreation Area

Last updated: October 31, 2023