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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport

airport

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ652306 ↗
Source-derived summary

Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport (IATA: CDV, ICAO: PACV, FAA LID: CDV) is a state-owned public-use airport located 11 nautical miles (13 mi, 20 km) southeast of the central business district of Cordova, a city in the Chugach Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska which has no road access to the outside world. Airline service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 16,640 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 15,372 enplanements in 2009, and 17,856 in 2010. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2015–2019, which categorized it as a primary commercial service (nonhub) airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year) based on 16,061 enplanements in 2012. The airport is named after Merle K. Smith, also known as "Mudhole", a pilot who in 1939 became president of Cordova Airlines, which used the airport as a hub between 1934 and 1968. Cordova Airlines was acquired by Alaska Airlines in 1968.

Facilities and aircraft

Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport covers an area of 2,959 acres (1,197 ha) at an elevation of 54 feet (16 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 9/27 is 7,500 by 150 feet (2,286 x 46 m) with an asphalt surface; 16/34 is 1,899 by 30 feet (579 x 9 m) with a gravel surface.

For the 12-month period ending January 1, 2011, the airport had 14,040 aircraft operations, an average of 38 per day: 46% general aviation, 29% air taxi, 18% scheduled commercial, and 7% military. At that time there were 30 aircraft based at this airport: 93% single-engine and 7% helicopter.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport” as airport. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Merle, Mudhole and Smith.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2008, 2009, 2010, 2015—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Merle, Mudhole and Smith providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport”, the useful work is to connect “airport” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

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 Q652306. Authority coordinates are 60.492, -145.477. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2015.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport primary sources, Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport archive and Merle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith 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.