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Wendover Air Force Base, South of Interstate 80, Wendover, Tooele County, UT

Wendover Air Force Base, South of Interstate 80, Wendover, Tooele County, UT

description

Summary

Significance: The history of Wendover Airport spans a period of 50 years, and has gained historical recognition due to the critical role it played during World War II. During World War II events at Wendover proved to be invaluable in the outcome of the war effort. The construction of the airbase in and of itself is an example of the tremendous Army mobilization effort during World War II. Beyond that, Wendover was the training ground for many Army Air Corps soldiers, including those who participated in the planning, assembly, and delivery of the atomic bomb. The Airport is also the site of missiles testing which took place under the Air Material Command postwar weapons development program in the late 1940's and 1950's. The Airport was used by Stragetic Air Command training crews in the late 1940's.
Wendover was one of the few military installations in the country placed on the National Register of Historic Places prior to being more than fifty years old...
Wendover is significant for several reasons. First, at one time it was the largest (in terms of land area) military reserve in the world. It is an example of the tremendous building program associated with the World War II mobilization. Wendover also served as the training facility for thousands of soldiers in World War II. It served as the training base of the unit responsible for the atomic bombing of Japan. The Enola Gay B-29 Aircraft which carried the bomb dropped over Hiroshima was housed in a hangar at Wendover. The atomic bombs which were dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were reportedly assembled at Wendover...
Survey number: HABS UT-125
Building/structure dates: 1941- 1943 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 75001827

date_range

Date

1933 - 1940
person

Contributors

Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
Wegman-French, Lysa, transmitter
place

Location

create

Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html

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