Sitting on a nondescript side street across the runways of Hobby Airport is the 1940’s Air Terminal Museum in Houston Texas. Visiting this museum will bring back memories of when flying was a special occasion for some people. For others, it will make you wish we could go back in time, before hour long TSA check in lines, rude passengers and the airlines treated people as customers instead of a commodity to be shipped from one place to another.
The Air Terminal Museum is housed in the original art deco air terminal building built in 1940. The terminal was the only commercial air terminal in Houston until 1954. From 1978 to 1998 the building sat vacant until the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society was formed and restoration began. Since then, the building has been restored and now houses photos, artifacts and memorabilia from now defunct airlines and important events in aviation history.
The interior of the building has been restored to show what it looked like along with various displays.
The ticket office is just off the lobby and a far cry from today. Long before online ticketing, lost luggage and long lines for check in, you just walked up to a person at a desk and bought your ticket.
Throughout the museum there are displays, photos and documents showing early aviation in Texas and throughout the country.
Displays showing what your stewardess would have worn throughout the years.
There are also a lot of displays about airlines that no longer exist.
You hear stories about airlines wanting to weigh people today. They actually used to, check out the first ticket issued by Texas Airlines.
Just imagine. Breakfast in Houston and lunch in Chicago, who would have thought?
Learn to fly for under $70.00
Who remembers Braniff Airlines?
The Air Terminal and surrounding airfields played an important part in military history also. Check out the name on the nose of the plane.
Notice how everyone is dressed? Everyone s wearing suits and ties. No one in pajamas or sweatpants.
Outside the terminal sits a Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar. This plane has been in continuous service since 1942 when it started off in the service of the US Air Force and later converted to business flight for various oil companies. The museum fires it up once in a while and takes a turn around the runway.
The plane seats eight in a lot more comfort than some planes today. Notice how the seats face each other and the very small overhead bin toward the front?
The stewardess, yes they were called stewardesses, sat in a small place in the “galley” which consisted of a small sink and cabinet.
The pilots were pretty cramped also.
There was however a lot of room in the toilet. Imagine a modern flight with this much space. Notice the doors at the back? They actually lead to the tail of the plane. Security was not much of an issue.
The museum also acquired the 1929 Carter Field Airmail Hanger, which was originally the first airport building used in Houston. The hanger houses some of the museums aircraft along with a couple of flight simulators. Here is what it looked like when it was being used as the airport. For a brief time the airport was renamed Howard Hughes Airport, in honor of one of Houston’s favorite sons, but had to change back when the Government stated you could not name a public airport for a living person.
Notice how the truck pulls right up to the plane in the hanger while the passengers wait patiently to board.
The hanger houses some of the museum aircraft along with three flight simulators. Unfortunately the simulators are not in working order but you can sit inside them and check them out.
One of the planes on display is the Cessna Bobcat. The plane was heavily used in WW2 and also known as the “Bamboo Bomber” due to the one piece wooden wing. What looks like it should be a metal body is mostly a cloth body that is stretched and sealed. Thump it with your finger and it gives and you can hear a hollow sound.
This St Louis Helicopter, a 1958 Sikorsky S-58 N887, was used for heavy lift construction services. This is the same type helicopter that was used to recover the space capsules, with astronauts inside, when they landed in the ocean.
The Air Terminal Museum also does an airplane raffle each year. The tickets are $50 and no more than 2,500 tickets are sold. This year the raffle plane is a Piper Cherokee 180.
Texaco played a major role in early aviation. From fueling planes to firefighting services.
The museum has three flight simulators you can check out, like this Boeing 737-200 Flight simulator.
With so many old historic buildings being demolished and left to decay, the museum is truly a great experience. From those that want to remember when taking a plane ride was something special to those that have never known anything but long TSA lines, crowded airplanes and crappy customer service.
If you ever find yourself traveling to Houston you need to check out the 1940’s Air Terminal Museum.
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The 1940’s Air Terminal Museum located at 8325 Travelair Street, Houston Texas.
Museum Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday: 1:00pm – 5:00pm
This is so cool! I had to chuckle when I saw memorabilia for Pan Am and Braniff Airlines. Amazing how far technology has taken us within the past 70 years, though.
How true. I actually flew Braniff a few times.
Flew Braniff regularly for years .. From my first flight from HOU in 1952 to Mecham Ft Worth in a Martin 202 till there demise in the mid 80s 747 .. DFW /LGW.. In between the great Alexander Girard years to ACA etc. Was great fun. I feel lucky
Braniff was a pretty good airline to fly.
This place is fascinating! I love all the memorabilia and would love to experience all of this. If I find myself in Houston, it would definitely be one of the top destinations to explore. Love the art deco building too. What a gem!
It’s nice when they preserve history instead of tearing down old buildings and put up shopping centers.
What a beautiful building and a cool exhibit! Looks really cool, would have loved to visit it.
So this is now very high on my list of places to visit in Houston. Wow this place looks cool.
I enjoyed visiting and the volunteers that give the tours are very knowledgeable.
This museum looks fascinating! I love the art deco building. Adding this to my list of places to stop when I road trip through Texas next.
It is well worth a visit.
Fascinating read! I can’t imagine lining up behind a desk to by a plane ticket given the technology we have today and how accessible flying has become. I’d love to go back in time and experience flying during the earlier days.
It would be fun and a lot less stressful.
Great photos help make this look like a museum that I’d definitely visit if I were in the neighborhood. Stellar information!
Thanks Mark
I love this article. I really enjoy the intersection of pop culture and history. I also have a weakness for Art Deco design. Thanks for sharing!
It’s a really cool building design.
I’ve always wanted to visit this place! Thanks for the virtual tour. Excellent photos as well. I can’t believe they used to weigh passengers. The picture of the first ticket is awesome.
Glad you enjoyed it.
This looks like a really interesting museum! I love learning about the history of aviation and how flying used to be in the past. Flying is certainly quite different than it used to be! I love the photos you took inside that plane–I can’t believe how comfortable the seats look and how roomy the bathroom is. We will definitely have to check this museum out next time we are in Houston!
What the photo of the plane doesn’t show is the ash tray next to the seat. Back then everyone smoked on the flight.
Wow, this sounds so interesting!! I love checking out aviation museums normally, but the fact that it’s preserved the history of the experience of flying from a passengers perspective is something new I hadn’t heard of. Amazing to think that planes have become less comfortable and less spacious over time lol!!! How cool to get such a fascinating glimpse back in history. I always wish we were flying back in the day where it was a big deal to be in the air 🙂
Flying used to be a big deal. Everyone used to get dressed up. You didn’t want to be out in public, especially on a flight and be dressed like a slob. How things have changed.
As a big fan of aeroplanes, this is a museum I would love to visit. It is amazing to see how an airport was back at the time when flying was a luxury and it was for a few people. It also so cool to see how a plane was inside back at the time.!
It is a pretty nice little museum. Doesn’t take a lot of time to visit, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable and if you get a chance you would enjoy it.
I’m just old enough to remember how special it used to be to fly and the amazing service. This is so very cool. I’d love to visit.
It is a shame the service isn’t what it used to be.
What a fascinating museum! Isn’t it interesting to see how the aviation industry has changed? Flight simulators are a fun experience in themselves. This looks to be a fun visit while in the Houston area. I’m making note of this one!
Learning to fly for $70? What a steal! I’m glad we don’t have those bright yellow chairs anymore 😉 This place is so cool, thanks for sharing. Happy travels!
I do agree how that charm and excitement that came with air-travel no longer exists today. I think every time people fly they should take a moment to realize that ‘they are flying!!!!’ As Louis CK says, ‘You’re in a chair. In the sky’
Thanks for sharing your visit on this blog. Those are some lovely photographs you’ve clicked.
What a cool museum! I love seeing them dressed up. Flying was so much classier back then.
I am traveling to Houston in the fall with my dad, and he would love this museum. He often talks about those sweet days of flying when the seats were actually comfortable and you got a full meal on the plane. Oh, and he always dressed to the nines for a flight. He refuses to fly anymore, which is probably for the best. He would be mortified by the changes that have taken place since he was last in the air (he’s 85).
He would probably enjoy this museum. It is a great glimpse into the golden age of travel.
Such a cool museum! The history of the planes, passengers, and pilots is so different than today. That yellow plaid for the seats was something else.
Yeah the seats are roomy but the colors left something to be desired.
Oh I could get lost in a place like this for hours, in a good way though 😉
I love your photography and your site looks great too! I would like to take my kids here. Looks like a great field trip!
Thanks. It’s a really nice little museum.
Great photos, very nostalgic. Would like to visit that museum some day.