History

Opened in 1920 and known in the early years as Stow Field, the airport became the Kent State University Airport with the university's purchase in 1942. The small maintenance hangar seen today was built in 1945, and the large, Quonset-style hangar came into use in 1946. In 1964, the airfield was named the Andrew W. Paton Field to honor the professor who created the university's first aviation technology curriculum in 1945.

The airport is the longest-surviving public-use airport in Ohio and celebrated its centennial in 2020.