History
The airport operated from 1922, three years after the state's first airport opened in Milwaukee, until 1990. [3] [4] It was formed when Clarence, Leonard, Newell, and Roy Larson cleared an 80 rod-long sod landing strip behind their barn. [3] He had two Curtiss Canuck airplanes. [5] They began barnstorming the United States at county fairs and offering flying lessons before building a hangar in 1924. [3] Roy Larson barnstormed Wisconsin for Bob La Follette's 1924 Presidential campaign. [3] The hangar allowed them to work and store on six airplanes. [3]
In 1926, the brothers formed the Roy Larson Aircraft Company for their repair work, and created a corporation for all of their ventures as the Wisconsin Airways in the following year. [3] Roy Larson died in 1929 while a student was flying the airplane that he was riding in. [5]
In 1932, the Milwaukee Journal called the airport the "finest airport in the state". [3] Soon after, sod airports began fading as more powerful airplanes required longer paved runways. [3] It temporarily closed following a federal mandate at the beginning of World War II. [3]
Leonard Larson trained fighter pilots for the war. [6]
By the late 1970s, it was the oldest airport in the state. [5]
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