From McDonald's To Laurel and Hardy: The Monrovia Connection

The Monrovia Airport / Foothill Flying Field (1928 – 1953)

Don Roberson first opened the “Foothill Flying Field” in 1928 at the southeast corner of Shamrock Ave. and Huntington Drive, due south of the Museum. It provided a single, 2,700-foot-long, unpaved runway, oriented northeast/southwest.

Many Monrovians learned to fly at the airfield, including Betty Scott and Leroy Criss. Instructions cost $1.50 per lesson. The U.S. Post Office used the airfield for airmail transfers, including the first helicopter mail flight.

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The airport ceased operations in 1953, but its spirit endures at the Monrovia Landing shopping center, directly across Huntington Drive from its former location.

Some fun facts about the Monrovia Airport:

➢ In 1937, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a snack bar called the Airdrome at the Monrovia Airport. They moved the building to San Bernardino in 1940, renamed it “McDonald’s,” and soon started franchising their restaurant. Ray Kroc purchased the company in 1961.

➢ Four movies were partially filmed at the Monrovia Airport:

• The Fighting Pilot (1935)
• The Great Plane Robbery (1940)
• 20,000 Men A Year (1941, starring Randolph Scott)
• The Big Noise (1944, starring Laurel and Hardy)

➢ Stuntman Ralph Wiggins made a parachute jump the first time he ever flew in a plane, from the Monrovia Airport, in the barnstorming days of 1936. He went on to complete more than 600 parachute jumps.