The defense phase of the Roosevelt Administration also spawned an airfield with a different use in Arkansas. The airport at Southwestern Proving Ground (SWPG) in Hope, constructed in 1941, was not used as a training facility but rather a contributing resource for a proving ground used to test bombers, artillery shells and air bombs.
Location Change: The proving ground was planned for Oklahoma City, but the location was changed to Hope because Arkansas was receiving so many new military facilities at the time that it was considered more efficient to construct the proving ground there as well.
Early Planning and Authorization (1940-1941)
The rumors of such a facility were reported by the Arkansas Agricultural and Industrial Commission in 1940, and Senator Lloyd Spencer of Hope verified its construction in the summer of 1941.
Spencer said that he had received news of the proving ground's authorization from the War Department and that it would be located north of Hope on a 5-mile wide, 15-mile long parcel covering 37,000 Acres.
Site Selection and Expansion
The War Department did not consider the location in Hope appropriate at first because it wasn't suitable for an airport, but it was finally decided airport facilities could be built outside the proposed area, southwest of the original reservation on a neighboring tract.
With the addition of the airport the total acreage was raised to 50,780.27 Acres.