Gerstner Field

Frederick Gerstner never saw Louisiana. He drowned on December 31, 1914, when his plane went into the Pacific off Oceanside, California, during the Mackay Trophy contest, and the Air Service later gave his name to a flying school southeast of Lake Charles. The first troops arrived in November 1917. Blowing sand fouled engines, spare parts ran short, and on August 6, 1918, a hurricane killed three men and destroyed 96 airplanes. Flight training ended in November 1919, and farm fields now cover most of the site.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge — 10 mi
  A refuge of freshwater marsh, coastal prairie and old rice fields, with a visitor center, a boardwalk and the one-way Pintail Wildlife Drive.
• Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu — 11 mi
  A 6,000-square-foot museum of southwest Louisiana Carnival with about 275 costume mannequins and 14 animated figures, opened in April 2026.
• Imperial Calcasieu Museum — 11 mi
  Lake Charles's history museum, founded by the Junior League in 1963, with parish artifacts, Claire Chennault's uniform and the Sallier Oak.
• Sam Houston Jones State Park — 16 mi
  A 1,087-acre park on the West Fork of the Calcasieu with longleaf pine, cypress-tupelo swamp, five trails, cabins and kayak rentals.

More markers nearby

• Jean Laffite — 8.8 mi
• LaGrange High School — 9.7 mi
• Louisiana Baptist Orphanage — 10 mi
• Lake Charles High School Kilties — 11 mi