'Front door' to Maxwell gets new name Published May 11, 2010 By Capt. Dana Michael Dilling 42nd ABW Commander's Action Group chief MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- In early March, the Montgomery City Council approved the renaming of Bell Street to Maxwell Boulevard. A ceremony held March 23 unveiled the new street sign with the Maxwell Boulevard designation, and the primary gate to Maxwell has likewise been designated the Maxwell Boulevard gate. The primary Maxwell gate was opened Feb. 11, 1933, and was advertised in a local headline as the "New 'Front Door' at Maxwell Field." It was known as the East gate, or Main gate, initially and was still called either East gate or Main gate in pamphlets from the early 1950s. Maps from the 1990s, however, show it as the Bell Street gate, and it became known as the Bell Street gate by default.