March Field Air Museum

The new museum was initially housed in the March Air Force Base's 1930-vintage base theater (shown above) located just north of the base's parade ground. There, the museum's 2000 square foot main exhibit area was filled with photographs depicting the history of the base from its founding in 1918. Model airplanes and paintings were also original display items. An aircraft park, to feature aircraft that once flew from March, was also established near the main gate at Cactus and Graham. "It's important to capture the essence of our past and to portray and illustrate the history of March Field." said Major Brian Daly, the museum's first director.In 1980 three important museum events occurred. One --- the March Field Museum was officially recognized as an Air Force Facility in March 1980. Two --- the March Field Museum Foundation was established in May 1980. Three --- in November 1980 the display area for museum aircraft (featuring three aircraft) was open to the public.   The March Field Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to support the museum with fund raising and volunteer help.  The Foundation operates a Gift Shop, holds golf tournaments, annual Santa Maria Barbeque's and other events to raise money.   $400,000 was raised to build the current hangar building.During the early years the March Field Museum grew by leaps and bounds, so much so, that within a year the museum quickly doubled the number of artifacts in its possession and filled the theater building to capacity. So rapid was the growth that the museum outgrew its original building and needed to be moved to new quarters.