The massive California airfield that became a giant pinhole camera

History · Published 18 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Before it was a sprawling public park, this 4,682-acre Marine Corps base was a hub of military aviation. Now, its legacy lives on through a photographic feat: the largest image ever captured by a camera, using an abandoned hangar as a lens.

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, located near Irvine, served as the West Coast's primary home for Marine Corps Aviation for decades. Established in 1942 on land purchased from farmer James Irvine Sr. for $100,000, the base was built on a site that once held North America's largest lima bean field. Throughout its history, the station hosted significant figures, including every U.S. president in the post-World War II era, and even served as a landing site for Richard Nixon's Air Force One during his presidency and following his resignation in 1974.

The base's operational life was marked by both high-profile activity and intense local conflict. While it functioned as a Master Jet Base capable of handling the largest U.S. military aircraft, the expansion of residential neighborhoods in the 1980s brought residents into direct contact with the noise of passing jets. This tension, alongside a fierce political battle over whether to convert the site into a commercial international airport, eventually led to the station's decommissioning in 1999.

Today, much of the former base has been transformed into the Orange County Great Park. The site's transition from military to civilian use even inspired a monumental artistic achievement. In 2006, photographer Jacques Garnier used an abandoned F/A-18 hangar to create "The Great Picture." By sealing the hangar to act as a giant pinhole camera, he produced a panoramic print on light-sensitive muslin measuring 111 feet wide and 32 feet high, documenting the station's history before its transformation.

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