Harper Airport

The specific reason for closure is not officially documented. As a small, privately owned airfield, the closure was most likely due to the owner's personal decision. Common reasons for such closures include the owner's retirement or death, the sale of the property for other uses, or the increasing costs and liability of maintaining a private airport. There is no evidence of closure due to a major accident or military conversion.

The site is no longer an airport. An analysis of current satellite imagery shows the land is now used as private pasture or farmland. While the faint outline of the former north-south runway is still visible in the vegetation, a large man-made pond or lake has been constructed over the southern portion of the old runway. Several buildings, which may be the original hangars or newer structures, remain on the west side of the former runway area. The property is privately held and not accessible to the public.

Harper Airport, which also used the Texas state identifier T35, was a privately owned general aviation airfield. First appearing on records in the late 1960s, it was managed by its owner, W.T. Harper. The airport featured a single unpaved turf runway, approximately 2,600 feet long, aligned north-south (Runway 17/35). It served the needs of the local private pilot community in Ellis County, providing a base for personal aircraft. Its significance lies in being a representative example of the numerous small, private airstrips that supported American general aviation during the mid-to-late 20th century.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Harper Airport. Given that it has been officially closed for approximately two decades and the land has been physically altered with the construction of a large pond on the former runway, a return to aviation use is considered extremely unlikely.