Wendover Air Force Base's history began in 1940, when the United States Army began looking for additional bombing ranges. A portion of the original bombing range is now the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) which is used extensively by the Air Force with live fire targets on the range.
Tooele County took over ownership of the airport and base buildings in 1998. It was closed by the Air Force in 1969, and the base was given to Wendover City in 1977. Īfter the war, Wendover was used for training exercises, gunnery range and as a research facility. In 2009, a hangar at the base dubbed The Manhattan Project's Enola Gay Hangar was listed as one of the most endangered historic sites in the U.S.
It was also the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 unit which dropped the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. During World War II, it was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews before being deployed to the European and Pacific Theaters. Wendover Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Utah now known as Wendover Airport.
