Editing Edwards Air Force Base (section)

=== Origins ===
A [[water stop]] on the [[Santa Fe Railroad]] since 1882, the site was largely unsettled until the early 20th century. In 1910, Ralph, Clifford and Effie Corum built a homestead on the edge of [[Rogers Dry Lake]]. The Corums proved instrumental in attracting other settlers and building infrastructure in the area, and when a [[post office]] was commissioned for the area, they named it Muroc, a reversal of the Corum name, due to the presence of a town named Coram.<ref name="HIST">[http://www.mybaseguide.com/article/air-force/edwards-afb/1834/History Edwards AFB office of history via My Base Guide to Edwards AFB]</ref><ref>Coram was a smelter town established on the [[Sacramento River]] in 1906 about 1.6&nbsp;km below what is today [[Shasta Dam]], in northern California. It was abandoned around 1911 when the Balaklala Mine was closed.</ref>

Conscious that [[March Air Reserve Base|March Field]] was located in an area of increasing growth in [[Riverside County, California|Riverside County]], and with the need for bombing and gunnery ranges for his units, base and [[1st Bombardment Wing|1st Wing]] commander [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Henry H. Arnold|Henry H. "Hap" Arnold]] began the process of acquiring land next to [[Rogers Dry Lake|Muroc Dry Lake]] for a new bombing range away from populated areas in August 1932; the last tract was not acquired until 1939. The facility established to support the range, initially called "Mohave Field" for the nearby community of [[Mojave, California|Mohave]], was Muroc Field.<ref name="HIST"/> In October 1935, five men under a Sergeant Folgleman were sent to the area from March Field. They put out circular bombing targets in the desert. For the next two years aircraft shuttled back and forth between Muroc Dry Lake and March Field for Crew Bombing Practice.<ref name="AFSCHIST">[http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/afhistory/AFFTC1961Opt.pdf K286.69-37, Volume 1, January through June 1961 History of the Air Force Flight Test Center, IRIS Number 489391]</ref>

At this time, another colorful character in Edwards' history, [[Pancho Barnes]], built her renowned [[Happy Bottom Riding Club|Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch]] that would be the scene of many parties and celebrations to come. The dry lake was a hive of hot rodding, with racing on the playa. The runway on which the Space Shuttle landed follows the route that hosted racing in the 1930s.<ref name="HIST"/>

The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire [[United States Army Air Corps|Army Air Corps]] participated in a large-scale maneuver. From then on, the bombing range grew in size.<ref name="AFSCHIST"/> When Arnold became Chief of the Air Corps in 1938, the service was given a renewed focus on [[research and development]]. Muroc Field drew attention because the nearby dry lake was so flat (Arnold described it as "level as a billiard table") that it could serve as a giant runway, ideal for flight testing. Over [[United States dollar|US$]]120 million was spent to develop the base in the 1940s and expand it to {{convert|301000|acre|sqmi km2}}. The base's main {{convert|15000|ft|adj=on}} runway was completed in a single pour of concrete.<ref name="HIST"/>