Knox County, ME

SMRT's architectural rendering of what the new Terminal building at the airport was going to look like when completed.

Knox County Regional Airport is located in the town of Owls Head, Maine. The County acquired the Rockland Airport from the City of Rockland on December 4, 1968 and the airport was renamed Knox County Regional Airport. Some people still refer to the airport as Rockland Airport (or even Owls Head Airport since it's physically located in Owls Head). The airport’s call letters are still RKD.

HISTORY:

1939: The Rockland Airport was constructed as a Works Projects Administration (WPA) project sponsored by the City of Rockland. 450 acres of “swamp land” were converted to public use. The airport now sits on 538 acres.

1941: The US Navy assumed control of the airport at the outset of WWII and used it as a training base, under Brunswick NAS.

1946: The airport was returned, through the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), to the City of Rockland for civil aviation.

1968 (Dec): The City of Rockland transferred the airport to the County of Knox

1969: Runway 17-35 was abandoned, leaving the two current runways: 3/21 and 13/31. The County also began to refurbish many of the other facilities on the airport.

1971: The Knox County Airport Commission was established and a full time airport manager was appointed. The County also began accepting federal funds for airport improvement projects.

2009: Construction began on the new terminal building (it had been in a trailer before this). Construction was completed in October of 2010.