A Navy on the Prairie - Norman, Oklahoma - Oklahoma Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This marker was installed at Legacy Park in 2022, one of three, with more planned for 2023. It is on the east side of Legacy Park, across the street from the water feature and pavilion. Fortunately, the same text is on both sides, which visitors will find helpful as the marker is very high up, where you may be facing the sun depending on the time of day you visit.

Text on marker:

A Navy on the Prairie

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the U.S. entered World War II and the Navy began looking for sites to train fighter pilots. The Navy bought 2,537 acres in Norman and leased another 62,000 acres in Oklahoma, primarily for remote landing fields. In the spring of 1942 crews blitz-built the Naval Air Station (North Base) at the University of Oklahoma's Max Westheimer Field. A large mount made from dirt scraped up for the lengthening of the runways was named Mount Williams in honor of an early commander of Naval Air Station Norman. The dirt hill was used as a backstop for the rifle range. Simultaneously, on the south side of Norman, the Navy built dozens of temporary buildings and opened the Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) and a Naval hospital. Every three months, 800 cadets learned to fly on the North Base and another 18,000 mechanics, machinists and nurses were trained at the NATTC throughout the year. The bases were closed after the war but the technical training center (South Base) was reactivated briefly during the Korean War. When that war ended, the land and buildings were mainly deeded to the university and the city, and a few plots were sold to private interests.

County: Cleveland Record Address:: Legacy Park 1898 Legacy Park Drive Norman, OK USA 73069 Web site if available: [Web Link] Rate the Site: Date Erected: 7/7/2022 Sponsor (Who put it there): Historical Signage project

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