Its site was originally developed as a motion picture studio in 1922, Premium Picture Productions opening its Beaverton Studios on the site in that year. The airport was named for Dr. G.E. Watts, the financier behind the film venture in Beaverton, who was also an aviation enthusiast. Premium Pictures went out of business in late 1925, after filmmaking on the West Coast became concentrated in Hollywood, and in 1928 the buildings were sold to Davis-Langman Aircraft Corporation, but G.E. Watts remained an investor. The film studio site was converted into an airstrip. In 1929, the facilities were sold to the Breese Aircraft Corporation (of San Francisco), for use in aircraft manufacturing. The first airplane manufactured in Beaverton was launched in April 1930, and the Watts airstrip was used for many test flights.