On June 11, 1918, the first aircraft, a Curtiss JN-4 called a “Jennie,” which was piloted by Lieutenant John F. Buffington, took off from Mather Field as part of its aviation school. The plane was built at the Liberty Iron Works, formerly known as the Globe Iron Works, on Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento. The Liberty Iron Works was awarded an 18 million dollar government contract during the First World War to build Curtiss JN-4 airplanes and the iron works constructed 200 planes for the war effort. The Liberty Iron Works brought an expansion in development and housing in North Sacramento for its employees. Mather Field grew rapidly after its founding in early 1918 but it was closed in 1923. Mather Field was reactivated in the 1930s as a sub-post to other air bases in Northern California and was fully reactivated and expanded in 1941 during the Second World War. Mather Air Force Base was formally decommissioned in May 1993. Photograph of the Mather Aviation School in 1919, court...