Flagpole

The Williams Air Force Base Flagpole

The Flagpole is historically significant as an object for its important symbolic and traditional associations with the origins and history of Williams Air Force Base and for its location as a focal point of the major axis of the base plan. Built of a standard military design, the Flagpole design and setting at one end of the former parade ground, clearly conveys its military origin and visually provides an associative link to the early development of the base.

The Flagpole was part of the first phase of development at Williams Field which took place between August 1941 and February 1942. The initial development included construction of 146 buildings and structures, runway construction and flood control, and drilling a water well with a storage and supply system. The Flagpole construction was based on the Standard Flagpole design prepared in 1932 by the Office of the Quartermaster General, and was repeated at other military facilities nationwide. Its location as the focal point of the major axis of the base plan was typical for all Army Air Force bases constructed during that time period (National Register Nomination Form, 1995).