South Point Air Force Station was located at the southernmost point on the island of Hawaii and consisted of 11.8 acres of land owned in fee simple plus utility easements covering 21 acres of land. 

South Point AFS was previously an Army airfield and known as Morse Field (also called Ka Lae Military Reservation). 

In 1941, construction was underway on five buildings, runways, and access roads at Morse Field.  Activities were centralized at this airport inasmuch as its location shortened by approximately 200 miles, from a routing through Oahu, the transpacific air ferry route to Australia and the Philippines.

Construction work, originally under the Zone Constructing Quartermaster, was transferred to the District Engineer in late 1940.  A total of $1,534,793 was requested from the War Department in May for completion of the project; this amount later increased to $2,020,000.

The work on runways at Morse Field was suspended shortly after 7 December 1941 and all adjacent landing areas demolished and the strip destroyed as a precautionary measure against enemy use.

By 28 December 1941, gasoline storage facilities were complete, a water line installed, and mobilization buildings were more than half finished.  These projects were all that were deemed appropriate for continuance at the time.

Blocking of landing areas on the island occupied large amounts of time and manpower due to the extensive areas involved and the comparatively smooth surfaces surrounding the field, which could be used as landing fields.

After World War II was was declared surplus and on January 16, 1948, a right of entry from the U.S. Army to the Territory of Hawaii was approved.  It was not until August 30, 1952 that the property was finally restored to the Territory by Executive Order.

This was an earth field with Marston Mat (steelgrid) runway and was constructed as a temporary facility.  Cost of maintenance was such that conditions became increasingly worse until, in July 1953, the field was condemned as unsafe and was closed.

In the meantime, a new Federal Aid Highway project had been completed into Hilo, which caused the entire community to look to the Hilo Airport for their transportation needs. As a result, traffic into the field came to a standstill.

The nearest settlement to the airport, Naalehu, was 16 miles by road and it was estimated that the population in the vicinity of Morse Field was only about 174 persons.

Estimates for proper rehabilitation ran as high as $54,837.

On October 22, 1954, the Director of Aeronautics addressed a letter to the Regional Administrator, Civil Aeronautics Administration requesting abandonment of the airport.

Reasons given were:

"Surplus to the Needs of the Community Because:

1. The continued increase in frequency of schedules into Hilo Airport made it gradually more desirable to travel and ship from Hilo.

2.  On March 10, 1953, Federal Aid Highway Project No. F18(5) unit 1, was completed, offering an excellent highway direct to Hilo, which caused the entire community to look to the Hilo Airport for their transportation needs.

"Uneconomical to Rehabilitate and Oeprate Because:"

1.  It serves such a small number of people.

2.  Not strategically located to best serve these people.

3.  Extreme weather conditions make it expensive to maintain.

4.  Impractical even as an emergency field because of its isolated location, lack of communications and transportation.

"Unsafe for further Operation Because:"

1.  An airstrip subjected to these extreme conditions over a long period of time must be maintained continuously and this proved impossible because its limited use, even in the peak year of 1951, precluded an elaborate maintenacne program."

In December 1964, General Bernard A. Schriever of the AFSC announced that the Air Force would assume control of space tracking and communications from the Navy at South Point on 1 February 1965.  Then on 30 September 1965, the Station was closed.

It was later reopened, however, in support of Project Have Lent, a sounding rocket probe program to evaluate advanced ballistic reentry system experiments.  The close proximity and aspect angle of South Point to the optical site sensors located on the island of Maui were the primary reasons for launching the probes from this location.

In 1979, the Station was divided in two parcels located about 1.5 miles apart, containing approximately 5.9 acres each. One of the sites was the main operations area, while the other areas was used for a boresight tower. 

The Station was under the operational control of the Space and Missile Test Center (SAMTEC).

South Point AFS was one of the few Air Force installations in the State of Hawaii that did not fall under the control of the 15th Air Base Wing. It belonged to the Air Force Systems Command (AFSC), with headquarters at Andrews AFB.

Source: 15th Air Base Wing History Office.