Chateau Thierry Flying Field (1919)

The airport closed due to land redevelopment. The landowners, the Bixby Land Company, did not renew the lease for the airfield. They instead chose to develop the property into the Virginia Country Club, a private golf course, as the value of the land for real estate and recreation surpassed its value as an airfield.

The site of the former Chateau Thierry Flying Field is now completely occupied by the Virginia Country Club golf course and surrounding residential neighborhoods in Long Beach. There are no visible traces or markers remaining of the original airfield.

Chateau Thierry Flying Field was a historically significant early airport, established in 1919 by Long Beach aviation pioneer Earl S. Daugherty. He named the field in honor of the American soldiers who fought in the World War I Battle of Château-Thierry. It was one of the first commercial airfields in Southern California and served as the base for Daugherty's flight school, passenger flights (joyrides), and charter services. The field was a hub for the burgeoning barnstorming scene and played a crucial role in the development of aviation in the region. Its closure directly led Daugherty to establish a new airport on a different site, which he named Daugherty Field, and which eventually evolved into the modern Long Beach Airport (LGB).

There are zero plans or prospects for reopening. The site is fully developed as a private golf course within a dense urban environment, making any return to aviation use physically and economically impossible.