Airmail Beacons in Southern Wisconsin Fields

Funny how cutting-edge technology becomes obsolete – and perhaps entirely forgotten - in the blink of an eye. You’ve seen airport radar equipment, used a GPS on your phone, and maybe even sent packages “by airmail” – but did you ever wonder just how these everyday conveniences came to be?

Modern day navigation and our understanding of getting from point A to point B was influenced heavily by the US Postal Service’s beacon towers, one of which stands at the Brodhead Airport in southern Wisconsin, near the Kelch Aviation Museum.

Airmail was a critical component to the development of American aviation in the 1920s and 30s – but how, and why, did this affect rural towns and real people? This presentation will explore the role light beacons played in the advancement of airmail, airways, and navigation, shedding light (pun intended) on aviation and USA history.

Presenter Michael John Jaeger is a volunteer docent and researcher at the Kelch Aviation Museum. He’s a former pilot who’s always loved looking at the landscape from above in small planes. He also likes to share with others how aviation in days past helped shape our local area and the world we live in today.