The abandoned hangar is all that remains of Bellanca Airfield, famous in aviation history. Henry Belin du Pont, avid promoter of flight, purchased a 360-acre farm and lured legendary, Italian-born aircraft designer Giuseppe Bellanca from Staten Island in 1928. In a factory here, Bellanca would build more than 1,000 airplanes, including Miss Veedol, first to cross the Pacific nonstop (1931). The Air Service, Inc., hangar—the original of 1928 was replaced by this one after a fire—was not officially part of the Bellanca factory but was used by public pilots. Bellanca remained in business until 1954. In later years, Centerpoint Boulevard was built down the main runway and the site developed for business. The lone surviving hangar (closed 1960) was threatened with demolition in 2003, but a grassroots group mobilized to save it.