Hope Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles (5 mi, 7 km) northwest of the central business district of Hope, a city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2015–2019, which categorized it as a general aviation airport.In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency signed a $25,000-per-month lease with the city to use 453acre at the Hope Municipal Airport as a staging area for trailers About 12,000 travel trailers and 8,300 mobile homes sat at the airport. Many of them were never used by the victims of Hurricane Katrina or other emergency.HistoryWorld War IIThe Southwestern Proving Ground was utilized during World War II as an airfield for bombers and a testing ground for artillery shells and air bombs. The proving ground was in operation from 1941 to 1945 and was a major employer of Hempstead, Howard, Nevada, Clark and Lafayette counties.The construction of the Southwestern Proving Ground was part of the U.S. Government's National Defense Program which provided factories for the manufacture of munitions, airplanes and tanks in preparation for an eventual war. The news of construction on a proving ground in Hope became official in June 1941. The Real Estate Department of the War Department was in charge of acquiring land by filing condemnation proceedings against the tract and then taking possession of those sections they required to begin immediate work. After the initial evacuation order the War Department decided they needed more room for an airport so they added more acres. In the end 404 families were relocated by a deadline of July 24. Callahan Construction Company was awarded the job of erecting the proving ground by the War Department and the hiring of 4,000 construction workers began July 15. Senator Spencer and the project director, W.K. Mellyor, agreed upon a guarantee of preferential treatment of local citizens in considerations for jobs.
