Merced Regional Airport
California airport
Merced Yosemite Regional Airport (MacReady Field) (IATA: MCE, ICAO: KMCE, FAA LID: MCE) is located two miles (3.2 km) southwest of Merced, in Merced County, California. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025 categorized it as a Commercial Service – Nonprimary airport. Commercial passenger service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
History
On March 15, 1932 the Merced City Council accepted title to the site of an airport as a gift from the Twenty-Thirty Club and the Crocker-Huffman Company. The airport, an airstrip and 66 acres (0.27 km2) of land 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of the city near the intersection of U.S. Route 99 and California State Route 59, was dedicated on April 3, 1932. The airport site was leased to George Voight for a term of five years, and a subsidiary airline of the Stinson Aircraft Company started Merced's first scheduled airline service. In May 1936 the City of Merced assumed responsibility for the airport; constructing buildings, hangars, and other improvements; expanding the site to 123 acres (0.50 km2).
In 1940 as the U.S. Army was trying to establish a 30,000 per year basic pilot training facility in the Merced area, Merced Municipal Airport was deemed unsuitable for a major training facility due to lack of room. The United States Department of War would ultimately select an area 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Atwater, now the site of Castle Airport, for its Air Corps Basic Flying School. That year, land the Merced Regional Airport now occupies in southwest Merced near Childs Avenue was acquired from delinquent tax rolls.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Merced Regional Airport” is california airport. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Merced, Regional and Airport, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “california airport” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q651720. Authority coordinates are 37.285, -120.514. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 2025, 1932 and 1936.
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This entry incorporates text from “Merced Regional Airport” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.