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#OnThisDay in 1930, the City and County of San Francisco initiated the purchase of Mills Field and the surrounding property. Three years earlier, San Francisco leased land from the Mills Estate to create a temporary, experimental municipal airport. By 1930, weather studies confirmed that the site was the best possible location for an airport, and San Francisco began a ten-year purchasing program with the Mills Estate to acquire 1,112 acres. Payment was made in annual installments of $105,000 each, the first of which was paid on August 30, 1930. Image: San Francisco Airport, aerial view, c. 1933. SFO Museum Collection. 1997.52.040.021 This image was posted on August 30, 2017.