Ann Arbor Takes Flight
In this day and age, when most townies head to Detroit Metro Airport to travel by commercial airplane, it's easy to overlook our own small airfield. In the 1920s--"The Golden Age of Aviation"--Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB/KARB) was front page news. In October of 1928, many well-dressed men and women gathered together on the far edge of our town to celebrate this great achievement. Popping champagne would have been appropriate, if not for prohibition. This was a story of progress, a source of local pride, the scene of many ladies in cloche hats, and a few gentlemen sporting leather aviator caps with large earflaps.
1925 - A Flying Field?
With major advancements in aviation, many airports surfaced across the state of Michigan in the 1920s. On July 2, 1925, an Ann Arbor Times News editorial declared "A flying field, with all the modern conveniences for aviators, is being discussed unofficially in official circles of Ann Arbor...No community of any size will want to be without a landing place within a decade or less." The idea of a local airport was appealing, but ultimately went dormant for a year.
Hackley Butler, park commissioner and Eli A. Gallup, park superintendent, started the movement for Ann Arbor's Municipal Airport in July of 1926.
A large section of Joseph Beal Steere's property, bordered to the north by Ellsworth Road, would eventually become the Ann Arbor Airport. State Street indicated in blue. - Pittsfield Township Plat Map, 1895.
