The founder of Mallory Airport has died. Ben Mallory was a veteran, award-winning pilot who started flying seaplanes on the Kanawha River near the Dunbar Toll Bridge. WCHS TV said after returning from the Marines in the 1950s, he started building a dirt airstrip about 600-feet long on family property above his parents’ grocery store and his auto repair shop. The airport eventually grew into a paved airport with 50 airplanes based there. Mallory Airport is located about three miles from South Charleston.