When Aeromarine arrived in Keyport in 1916, powered flight was little more than a decade old. Over the next fourteen years, the company would help transform the borough into one of America's pioneering centers of aviation.

Aeromarine's story began years earlier. In 1908, automobile executive and aviation enthusiast Inglis M. Uppercu, president of the Cadillac Motor Car Company of New York and an early member of the Aero Club of America, began financing the experimental aircraft work of the Boland brothers. After Frank E. Boland was killed while demonstrating one of his tailless aircraft in Trinidad in 1913, Uppercu acquired control of the Boland Aeroplane Company from Boland's widow.

In March 1914, Uppercu reorganized the business as the Aeromarine Plane & Motor Company, initially operating from Nutley, New Jersey. Two years later, he relocated the company to a sixty-acre waterfront tract in Keyport, the former Robbins Brickyard, purchased from Cornelius Ackerson. The site provided ample space for manufacturing buildings, flight operations, and direct access to Raritan Bay, making it an ideal location for designing, building, and testing seaplanes.

Almost immediately, the Keyport facility became more than a factory. Uppercu welcomed Battalion A of the Aviation Corps of New Jersey to establish a training school on the property and donated one of Aeromarine's pusher biplanes for instruction. It was an early sign that Keyport would play an important role in the rapidly developing field of American aviation.

During World War I, Aeromarine became one of the nation's leading builders of military seaplanes and flying boats for the U.S. Navy. Aircraft built in Keyport trained naval aviators, advanced military aviation, and helped lay the foundation for America's growing aircraft industry. In the 1920s, Aeromarine also became a pioneer in commercial aviation through its airline operations, demonstrating that scheduled passenger air service was practical years before commercial air travel became commonplace.

Although the company ceased operations during the Great Depression in 1930, Aeromarine's years in Keyport left an enduring legacy. At a time when aviation was still in its infancy, the borough became home to one of America's most innovative aircraft manufacturers, helping shape both military and commercial flight.