Kell Field Air Terminal
Wichita Falls, Wichita County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Known as "Little Adobe", this pueblo revival building was constructed in 1928 to serve as the air terminal for Kell Field, the first municipal airport for the city of Wichita Falls. In 1941 it was incorporated into Sheppard Field, a World War II Army Air Corps Training Center. Now part of Sheppard Air Force Base, the Kell Field Air Terminal has served such notable pilots as Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post, and Amelia Earhart. (Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981.)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Nicknamed "Little Adobe," this pueblo-revival terminal was built in 1928 for Kell Field, Wichita Falls' first municipal airport, in the heady early years of American commercial aviation. Pioneering aviators including Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post, and Amelia Earhart passed through its doors. In 1941 the airfield was folded into Sheppard Field, a World War II Army Air Corps training center, and it endures today as part of Sheppard Air Force Base.
Why it matters
It links the daring first age of flight to the vast World War II training machine that turned Texas skies into a proving ground for a generation of American pilots.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The late 1920s were a heady time for American aviation. Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927 set off a wave of excitement about flying, and towns across the country raced to build airports so they would not be left behind in the coming age of air travel. An airport was a sign of civic ambition, a declaration that your city was modern and on the map.
Wichita Falls had good reason to feel ambitious. Oil discoveries in the surrounding region during the 1910s had brought a boom, fresh money, and rapid growth. In 1928 the city built its first municipal airport, Kell Field, along with a terminal building nicknamed "Little Adobe" in the pueblo revival style, a romantic Southwestern look that was popular across the region at the time.
A little over a decade later the world had changed. As the United States prepared for a second world war, the Army Air Corps needed vast training grounds, and the wide, open skies and mild weather of Texas made the state ideal. In 1941 Kell Field was folded into Sheppard Field, one of many training centers that would help turn out the airmen and support crews the war demanded.
People & events
The little terminal saw some of the biggest names in the golden age of flight. The marker records that Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post, and Amelia Earhart all passed through. Each was a celebrity in an era when aviators were treated like movie stars, and their appearances at small-city airports drew crowds eager to glimpse the heroes of the sky.
Lindbergh was already world famous for his 1927 transatlantic flight. Wiley Post, a Texas-born flier closely identified with Oklahoma, became famous for record-setting flights around the world in the early 1930s before his death in a 1935 crash alongside humorist Will Rogers. Amelia Earhart, the most celebrated woman pilot of her time, became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932 before vanishing over the Pacific in 1937.
In 1941 the terminal's story shifted from barnstorming glamour to wartime purpose, when the airfield became part of Sheppard Field, an Army Air Corps training center. The little adobe building became part of a much larger military operation, and it remains today within Sheppard Air Force Base. In 1981 it was recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Its place in the American story
Kell Field's terminal connects two chapters of the American aviation story. The first is the era of the barnstormers and record breakers, when flying was dangerous, thrilling, and new, and when towns across the country bet on the airplane as the future. Small terminals like this one were where that future first touched down in everyday American life.
The second chapter is World War II, when the United States transformed its aviation industry and training system at astonishing speed. Texas became one of the nation's great training grounds, and bases like Sheppard Field helped prepare the vast numbers of people needed to keep American air power flying. The shift of a civilian airport into a military base is a small version of the wider mobilization that reshaped the country.
That legacy continues. Sheppard is still an active Air Force base and remains closely tied to military training, so this modest 1928 building links the dreams of the early aviators with the air power that followed.
If you visit
The first thing to know is that the terminal stands on an active military installation. Access to Sheppard Air Force Base is generally restricted, so check ahead about what is possible rather than assuming you can simply drive up to the building.
If you do get to see it, look for the features of the pueblo revival style: the rounded, adobe-like walls and the earthy Southwestern look that earned the building its "Little Adobe" nickname. It is a charming contrast to the modern military aircraft and facilities around it, and a rare survivor from the days when a trip to the airport was an event.
Wichita Falls makes a good stop on a North Texas road trip, especially for travelers interested in aviation, oil boom history, or the World War II home front. Even if you only reach the marker, it is worth pausing to imagine the crowds that once gathered here to greet Lindbergh, Post, and Earhart.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Charles Lindbergh
- · Wiley Post
- · Amelia Earhart
Themes & tags
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