Mystery on the History of the Plane at Spring Lake Park

Photo by Jeff Easterling

We've all heard, "by the plane at Spring Lake Park". It has been there all of my life, but I've never heard the story about why the plane is there. so I decided to go to Facebook and ask.


I posted some pics in the Facebook Group "Remember in Texarkana" and asked for some history. Usually you can post in there and the information just starts flowing, but this one seemed to draw even more questions.

Photos by Jeff Easterling

What I know, is it has been there for as long as I can remember. It is a T-33 Trainer Jet. It wasn't always fenced in and we used to play on it. So, I did some research into it, and cannot find a story or memory from RIT or anything. So researching Spring Lake Park a little bit back and the park had been used as an airfield, back when there was a Horse Track in the park also. As a matter of fact, the guy that Texarkana Regional Airport is named for, Harold Webb. Well, Mr. Webb had a history with aviation that began long before Webb Field. Here is something from Findagrave.com

Howard Webb, "Mr. Aviation" in Texarkana, recently retired as manager of the Texarkana Airport, 43 years after lifting his first airplane off the ground at Spring Lake Park. Webb, who has been manager of the airport over 40 years, has logged 18,000 hours flying time. To most people 18,000 hours doesn't seem like much, but a person would have to fly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for two years and 20 days to record that much time. Webb's interest in airplanes came while he was in junior high school. "One day we heard that some airplanes landed outside the city between Tennessee Road and the Genoa Road. We played hookey and went out. I'll never forget that day, there were four World War I "Jennies" there. After that I just couldn't get airplanes off my mind", he said. He took his first airplane ride in 1923 when a "barn stormer" came through town and was selling rides from a field on South State Line, across from the Sunshine Dairy. "Myself and a girl wnet up. It cost me $15 for seven minutes. I was 16 years old", he said. In the spring of 1926 Webb made his first solo flight from Spring Lake Park. "I made my first solo flight off the grounds at the old race track on the fair grounds. That was where all the planes landed at that time.

The post went on to include more information about the Airfield at Spring Lake Park...

At that time those who could fly, would land and take off at the fair grounds. Webb was about the only one in the city who owned an airplane and could fly. In 1928 the airport was moved to its present location. It had two sod runways, one 3,500 long and the other 3,000 feet. Both were 500 feet wide. If a stranger wanted to land at night, lanterns were put on both sides of the runway. If one of the Texarkana boys wanted to set down in the dark, he just lined up and landed without lights. "I understand that Charles Lindbergh landed once at Spring Lake Park . I saw "Wrong Way" Corrigan land here shortley before he made his flight to Europe. He was flying the same aircraft he made the flight in", Webb said.

I wonder if the plane that sits at Spring Lake Park today has anything to do with that piece of history, If you know anything, I hop you will share in the comments below. Thanks.