Hadley Field was an airport in South Plainfield, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It contained the Nike Missile Battery NY-65 and was used as a landing site for some of the nation's early air mail service. [1] The site has since been redeveloped into a strip mall and is currently owned by National Realty and Development Corp. [2]
The first airmail long-distance night service was established on July 1, 1925, from New York City to Chicago, IL, over a 774-mile course. The first plane, from Hadley Field, New Brunswick, NJ (in the metropolitan New York area), was piloted by Dean C. Smith. It was followed by a second plane piloted by J.D. Hill.
On July 1, 1925, overnight airmail was flown from Hadley for the first time when pilot Dean C. Smith took off with eighty-seven pounds of mail.
Pilot Dean C. Smith took off from Hadley Field in a DH-4 on the first leg of the run. His destination was Cleveland, where the mail would be transferred to another flight. The flight took place on July 1, 1925. Over 15,000 people came to witness the event.
40°33′21″N74°25′47″W / 40.5559°N 74.4298°W