Palm Beach County Park Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located six nautical miles (7 mi, 11 km) south of the central business district of West Palm Beach, Florida. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a reliever airport. It is also commonly referred to as the Lantana Airport. History 1940s The land the airport was to be built on was donated to Palm Beach County by philanthropic-minded families under the condition that the land be dedicated to serving the public. Recognizing the growing presence of aircraft in Florida and realizing that the number of aircraft would soon overwhelm local fields, the county decided to build an airport on the land. Prior to the United States entry into World War II, the Office of Civilian Defense was responsible for preparing for threats to the United States. They determined that this location would be an ideal location for planes conducting off-shore patrols for Axis submarines that had been moving along the Florida coast. The U.S. government reached an agreement with the County whereby the county would dredge and prepare the land and the U.S. government would build the airfield. The airfield was built with a parallel taxiway and ample ramp space. The first plane to land on the field was on August 20, 1941. On December 1, 1941, the Civil Air Patrol was formed and Lantana was one of three airfields chosen to host a unit, Coastal Patrol Base 3. In addition, the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command stationed the 17th Antisubmarine Squadron at the airport during the early months of the war. The 17th AS flew overflights of the Florida coast as well as over the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits patrolling for U-boats until January 1943 when the unit moved to Key West. When the Army Air Forces left, the CAP unit was transferred from Morrison Field (later to become Palm Beach International Airport) to Lantana for the remainder of the War. 1950s The Civil Air Patrol continued to use Lantana throughout the 1950s and the field served as the Group 5 Headquarters. A Search Unit for the United States Customs Service was also based at the field. Through World War II, the War Department had leased exclusive use of the field. Following the cessation of hostilities,