
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) will turn 75 years old on June 24th and is planning celebrations throughout the airport on that date.
The airport was originally named Friendship International Airport, as a nod to the local Friendship Methodist Church and surrounding community, but officially changed its name to Baltimore/Washington International Airport in 1973. The airport added “Thurgood Marshall” to its name in 2005 to honor the Baltimore native and the first African American Supreme Court Justice.
To get in the groove for a year of 75th-anniversary celebrations, this month the airport and local organizations are hosting live music performances on the upper level of the airport, near the B security checkpoint. If you’re headed to BWI this month, check the concert lineup before you go.
BWI is also sharing images from its photo archives. Here are a few of the airport’s baby pictures, including a snap of the outdoor observation deck and a game room with pinball machines – two amenities we’d love to see come back.



And look at this: Dulles International Airport wasn’t the only airport to have mobile lounges. In Baltimore, though, they were called “Planemates.”

And we can’t resist one more. This is a snap of the airport interior from the early 1990s, complete with built-in ashtrays in what looks to be hot pink and bright red couches.

All images courtesy BWI Airport