In Washington, D.C., the National Air and Space Museum (and Udvar-Hazy Center) are the pinnacles of capturing the nation’s history by air, but there is another aviation museum near the College Park, Md. Metro Station that possibly brings you as physically close as possible to aviation heritage.
Panels in the lobby chronicle the history of the airport and its initial life as the United States Army Aviation Field. This dates back to the Army wanting a more suitable space than Ft. Myer near Arlington, Va. for aircraft landings.
Does anyone know if replica copies are sold of this? Seeing this reminded me of the smaller scrolls that you can buy in a lot of gift shops in the D.C. area of important documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Emancipation Proclamation.
This panel about the Women Airforce Service Pilots is a great example of how the museum presents information to patrons and highlights important stories accompanying the exhibits. It’s very much a Goldilocks experience where the text-to-exhibit ratio is pretty good and not as overwhelming as other museums.
(For example, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, there are simply so many exhibits and not anywhere near enough time to read accompanying text placards if one wants to cover the four hangars in a given day.)
Getting there
You can take Green Line trains (also Yellow Line service resuming in December 2025) from Washington D.C. to College Park, Md. College Park is also accessible by Metrobus, Montgomery County DOT buses, MARC commuter train — and eventually the Maryland Purple Line light rail (2027).
Once you exit the Metro station, walk to the traffic light and cross Campus Drive. Cross the intersection for Cpl. Frank Scott Drive and walk to the end of the street with the College Park Airport sign and turn right. The first building you’ll walk past is the airport operations building — which is used for today’s pilots flying in and out of KCGS (the airport’s FAA identifier) — and the next building will be the aviation museum.
Admission is super affordable at $5 for adults with reduced rates for children, college students and members of the Armed Forces.
The District Pix update
Thank you to readers for continuing to view, like and engage with these photographic stories online. The time spent in museums and blog posts on those specifically will be coming to an end soon, but we will be continuing our coverage of concerts, local events, and other relevant stories of significance.
