Chain Link Fences in Richmond Heights, FL

At the beginning of World War II, the United States Navy purchased 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) of land in southwestern Dade (now called Miami-Dade) County for the purpose of constructing an airship base. The land was owned by the Richmond Timber Company, a major supplier of Dade County Pine (a denser, harder, sub-species of Pinus palustris, or longleaf pine). The base was named Naval Air Station Richmond, after the lumber company, and was home to the 25 ships of ZP-21 (Patrol, Airship Squadron 21 and Airship Wing 2). NAS Richmond was the second largest airship base in the United States, NAS Lakehurst in New Jersey being the largest. NAS Richmond was destroyed by a hurricane and fire in September 1945.

After the end of World War II, Captain Frank C. Martin, a Pan American pilot, purchased farmland adjacent to the base in rural southwest Dade County. With this purchase he created Richmond Heights, as a new community for returning African American veterans.

Of the original 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) he purchased in 1949, the federal government had used 800 acres (320 ha) to build the headquarters of Naval Air Station Richmond, a blimp base constructed in the early months of World War II Richmond, and was eventually home to 25 K-series blimps, three hangars, and 3,000 men. The hangars were 16 stories tall, built of Douglas fir brought in by train. The blimps protected ship convoys in the Florida Straits, and Richmond was the headquarters for the fight against U-boats operating in the Caribbean.