Modesto City–County Airport is two miles southeast of Modesto in Stanislaus County, California, USA.HistoryModesto City–County Airport was the nation's first municipally-owned airport, opening in 1918. At first the airport southeast of downtown Modesto was only 82acre; it moved in 1929 to the current location. Over the years it grew to its present size of 435acre. The airport started with a single runway; a second was added in the 1950s. During World War II the airport was Modesto Auxiliary Airfield (No 3), and was an auxiliary training airfield for Stockton Army Airfield.The airport was named Modesto Municipal Airport; on May 25, 1955 when Stanislaus County and the City of Modesto became partners in the airport, the airport was renamed Modesto City–County Airport. In October 1974 Harry Sham Field was added to the name to honor the airport manager that served between 1949 and 1968.Scheduled passenger flights started in 1946 when United Airlines opened its new terminal and began the Valley Queen service. United served Modesto with Douglas DC-3s, Convair 340s and Douglas DC-6s and began Boeing 737-200 jet flights in 1968. In 1979–80 United dropped Modesto after the deregulation of the airline industry. Pacific Express flew to Modesto in the 1980s with BAC One-Eleven jets.On October 12, 1991 the Modesto City Council and Stanislaus Board of Supervisors rededicated the remodeled passenger terminal that was enlarged to 8900sqft. The remodeling project upgraded the building built by United Airlines.In the 1990s corporate and business aviation became the fastest growing segment of activity for the airport. In 2001 Modesto was the base for at least eight corporate jets.
