Postcard
August 20, 2008
History lands at KC’s first airport downtown
Kansas City’s Municipal Airport was once a swampy, 687-acre bog located on an ox-bow crook along the great bend of the Missouri River.
Opening in 1927 to much fanfare, the airport’s inaugural arrivals were two planes. One was filled with Chamber of Commerce dignitaries such as Chamber President Lou Holland and City Manager H. P. McElroy. Celebrated trans-Atlantic pilot Charles Lindbergh, who gave the dedication speech opening the dirt field to passenger air traffic, flew a second plane to the airport’s first day.
The description on the back of this week’s historic postcard reads: “Kansas City Municipal Airport, containing about 687 acres of land, is located about 1.5 miles from Kansas City’s business center, and the leading hotels can be reached by automobile within 5 to 7 minutes. The Passenger Station, costing approximately $62,000, opened to the public on Dec. 8, 1929, is considered one of the best passenger stations in the world.”
Within months of the new airport’s opening, it was served by three major air passenger carriers, Trans-Continental and Western — a precursor to TWA — Mid-Continent Airlines, and Braniff, later known as the jellybean airline for their brightly painted jets.
After 45 years of service at Kansas City’s Municipal Airport, commercial passenger operations were transferred to the new Kansas City International Airport in Platte County. The old Municipal Airport was renamed for former Kansas City Mayor Charles B. Wheeler in 2002.
M.
Bushnell
