"The Crossroads of the Air": Boosterism and the Development of the Indianapolis Municipal Airport, 1925-1939

Abstract

This work explores the relationship from 1925 to 1939 between the business and government leaders of Indianapolis and the development of a municipal airport for the city. Beginning in 1925, local leaders worked to provide the city with a public airport. The initiation of three distinct and consecutive airport projects during this period closely tied development of a public airport with the commercial future of Indianapolis. The Chamber of Commerce led the first project, which established a public airport shared with the Indiana National Guard. Soon after this airport opened, the City of Indianapolis, with the cooperation of the Chamber of Commerce, undertook the development of a larger municipal airport in Indianapolis that opened in 1931. Finally, in 1938 the city government cooperated with the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) to build a national aviation experimental station at the Indianapolis Municipal Airport.