Beacon Field Airport

Huntington is so far out on the Yellow Line you might wish you could take a plane from there. Well, for the first half of the 20th century, you could. Groveton used to be an important spot for air travel. It was the site of Beacon Field Airport, Hybla Valley Airport and the ill-fated George Washington Air Junction. Hybla Valley, the first licensed airport in Virginia, was especially important during World War II, serving as a Naval Air Facility that trained military pilots. However, by the late 1950s, the end of the GI Bill, diminished interest in private flying, and growth of suburbia all contributed to the eventual closure of these airports, both of which were gone by 1959.