Some Lagoon History:

During the 1920's the U.S. Navy established an emergency landing field in the San Dieguito River Valley in an area east and west of I-5, known as the San Dieguito Field. The property is believed to have been developed as a municipal airport around 1938 to serve the racing patrons at the new Del Mar Fairgrounds. The airport included a 3,500-foot runway and several support buildings.

In 1941, the Navy acquired an extra 80.4 acres, but since the field could not accommodate modern aircraft, the US Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Del Mar, as it was known, became a base for lighter-than-air aircraft, also known as blimps. The Del Mar facility could accommodate two blimps, which were used in anti-submarine patrols along the west coast.

After Pearl Harbor, fairs and racing at Del Mar were suspended, and the Navy added the fairgrounds and racetrack to the main facility where the blimp mooring masts and landing fields were located. The fairgrounds became barracks, galleys, mess halls, offices, recreational facilities and classrooms for Navy personnel stationed there during the war.

Using radar, magnetic detection equipment and visual sightings, the blimps were used along the California coast to detect enemy submarines. They were K-types assigned to the blimp squadron ZP-31 based at the Santa Ana Naval Air Station. Approximately 134 K-type blimps were built for the war effort, each measuring 251.7 feet in length, able to lift 7,770 pounds, and with a maximum speed of 67.5 knots.

Usually only two blimps operated from the Del Mar field at one time since there were only two mooring masts. They were refueled at Del Mar and then continued anti-submarine patrols up and down the coast and as much as 100 miles out to sea.

The Del Mar Naval Auxiliary Air Facility was decommissioned in 1945 and the fairgrounds and racetrack returned to the State of California.


New owners

The Navy retained ownership of the airfield until 1947, when the 80.4 acres were quitclaimed to the County of San Diego for one dollar. The field was used as a civilian airport until 1959 when it was transferred to the State as part of the I-5 right-of-way.

After the airport closed, a company called Non Linear Systems moved its operations into the site barracks. NLS produced digital voltmeters, started in 1952 by a young Del Mar engineer, Andrew Kay. Work at NLS led to the production of the "Kaypro", one of the first home computers. NLS moved its plant to Solana Beach in 1968 and the airfield property has been vacant ever since.

At the present time only concrete foundation pads remain as well as septic tanks,underground gas-storage tanks and one of the two concrete wheel circles. These encircled mooring masts used to tether the blimps. Although of historical interest, the property has little remaining integrity. It is, however, worth a visit for those interested in how the past shapes the future.