The Works Progress Administration constructed the Greenville Airport in 1940 on land that was jointly owned by the city of Greenville and Pitt County. A Civil Pilot Training Program operated from the airport until it was leased by the United States Navy on May 1, 1942, to be an outlying field of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. The field was underutilized until November 30, 1942, when it was announced that it would be upgraded by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.Shettle(2001):40
