Fairfax District (Kansas City, Kansas)

"In late 1923, the Kansas City Industrial Land Company, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad, purchased nearly 1,300 acres of Missouri River bottom land and launched over $3.7 million of infrastructure improvements to create a modern industrial district."[6] In 1924 the UPRR had railyards in the district[8] and by March 1926, the district had "four miles of paved streets…six miles of railroad spur track…an iron and steel foundry, an oil refinery, a thresher assembly plant, two construction companies, a lumber mill, and an aviation school and small airfield." The airfield was named the 1925 Sweeney Airport then the 1928 Fairfax Airport—the latter had a natural gas field with 14 wells for extra revenue. Early passenger flights were by Universal Aviation Corporation, Southwest Air Service Express, and Central Air Lines; and in 1933 when American, Braniff, and US Airways were operating flights, Rearwin Airplanes and American Eagle were manufacturing aircraft in the district.[9] A naval reserve air base was established at the airport in 1935 and in 1936, the Chrysler Motor Parts Company began operations along the airport.[10]

In addition to a World War II Navy Elimination Air Base, Air Force Plant NC was built (1st B-25 accepted in February 1942.) By May 1942[6] the Fairfax Division of the Fruehauf Trailer Company was in the district,[11] and a dual hangar USAAF Modification Center was completed in October 1942. During the war a factory was started for a rubber company (completed post-war by Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation),[6] and an air freight terminal for Military Air Transport was opened on March 2, 1945.

To liquidate military surplus, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation set up a depot in the district (72 flyable B-25J aircraft were sold to the public), and General Motors leased the Air Force Plant for automobile assembly (GM also built post-war F-84F aircraft at the plant.) Transcontinental & Western Air used the modification center for aircraft servicing until the Great Flood of 1951, and in January 1947 four new factories were under construction.[6] In 1960 GM bought the former Air Force Plant it had been leasing since 1945 and then constructed a new 1985 factory when the airport closed. An annexation ordinance expanded the city limits to encompass the "United States Government [area of] 2 acres" and the airport's 925.8 acres (374.7 ha) with 13 buildings—the "Fairfax plat" was the area within the northeast corner of the Fairfax Industrial District of ~2,300 acres (930 ha).[5] Fairfax Assembly opened in 1987 again and produced Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse models. In July 2006, the Kansas City council offered $146,000,000 in bonds for GM to produce a new mid-size vehicle at the plant.