A century ago, what is now Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) became part of the Golden Age of Flight.
This pioneering period of aviation history lasted from the end of World War I, when surplus military airplanes were repurposed for commercial flights, to the beginning of World War II and saw massive growth in an industry that revolutionized transportation. The Air Mail Act of 1925 helped establish routes for delivery planes, and the following year, the Air Commerce Act established safety rules and regulations for commercial flights. These protocols led to rapid change and expansion in air travel, and Milwaukee was an important part of those early, turbulent days. In 1919, Milwaukee County established its first airfield, named Butler Airport, where Currie Park in Wauwatosa is today.
“At that time, air travel was just beginning to be known in the consciousness of the public, and Milwaukee wanted to get in on the ground floor of that,” explains Bill Streicher, former longtime president of the Mitchell Gallery of Flight, the 24-hour museum inside the main terminal at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
READ MORE ABOUT THE MITCHELL GALLERY OF FLIGHT HERE.
Alfred Lawson – a former professional baseball player for the Boston Beaneaters – operated South Milwaukee’s Lawson Airplane Co. He manufactured the Lawson Airliner, and in 1919 launched his new plane at Butler Airport, marking Milwaukee’s first commercial flight. The two-pilot biplane stopped in Washington, D.C., and New York, carrying 16 passengers.
County officials quickly realized that their new airport was too small – and boxed in by the Menomonee River and train tracks. After considering several expansion sites, the county bought a private airfield south of Downtown owned by another innovative aviator, Thomas Hamilton, proprietor of the Hamilton Metalplane Co. Butler Airport was shut down and Hamilton Airport was renamed Milwaukee County Airport on Oct. 6, 1926.
This was the birth of what is now Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
A century ago, the airport was little more than a single grass runway surrounded by fields with an old farmhouse that acted as a terminal, but there was plenty of space to grow.
Across the country, only about 6,000 people traveled by air in 1929, but as planes improved and ticket prices dropped, over 1.2 million were flying less than a decade later in 1938. “Early aviation in the Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin area closely paralleled and influenced the rapid advances in aviation and air travel nationally,” Streicher explains.
In 1927, with the industry expanding, the city of Milwaukee built its own separate airport – Maitland Field (named after Milwaukeean Lester Maitland, who flew the first transpacific flight from California to Hawaii) on the shore of Lake Michigan. But it was short-lived. Strong lake winds often made flights difficult, and Maitland closed in the mid-1950s. It was repurposed as a Nike missile site before becoming grounds for the Summerfest music festival in the ’70s.
Northwest Airlines, headquartered near Minneapolis, began to operate the first regularly scheduled commercial flights at Milwaukee County Airport in 1927, connecting Milwaukee to Chicago and the Twin Cities. Those early flights brought air travel to more Milwaukeeans, but they were bumpy rides. Northwest flew Hamilton Metalplane’s H-45 and H-47 single-propeller crafts, some of the first metal airliners. They looked like corrugated tin boxes with wings and seated just six passengers. Pressurized cabins wouldn’t come along until the late 1930s, so these planes flew low and often hit intense turbulence.
Technology developed rapidly and by the late 1930s, passengers were flying in planes like the Douglas DC-3, which could fly about 20-30 passengers faster and in comfort.
To accommodate this growth, the Works Progress Administration helped fund construction of a new two-story brick passenger terminal building on Layton Avenue toward the end of the Depression in 1938. And on March 17, 1941, the airport was renamed General Mitchell Field after Milwaukee native Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, an innovator of military aviation. “General Mitchell is not only considered to be the father of the modern U.S. Air Force but was also a tireless advocate of civilian aviation,” Streicher says. “He’s certainly a fitting namesake for Milwaukee’s major airport.” In addition to Mitchell, Streicher adds that Southeastern Wisconsin has “been associated with a cross section of people who are notable aviation pioneers, trailblazers, leaders, pilots, astronauts and visionaries.”
By the 1950s, passengers were able to fly further on planes like the Boeing 707, which held around 150-200 passengers. Growth only accelerated in the commercial airline industry as it entered the jet age and looked to fill demand to travel to newly accessible destinations – and Milwaukee’s airport began to look a little more like what we know today. It expanded its footprint from 163 to 1,500 acres, and a new three-concourse, two-
level terminal along Howell Avenue with 23 gates was completed at a cost of $3.2 million in 1955.
Another wave of renovation and expansion happened in the mid-1980s, when the Airport was renamed General Mitchell International Airport, reflecting the expanded reach of its flights. Larger ticketing, baggage and terminal storefront areas were added, along with a new air traffic control tower completed in 1986. And in the 1990s, Concourse D, with 16 additional gates, and a new 2,250-space parking structure addition were built.
In the subsequent decades, the Airport has continued to expand and evolve. An Amtrak station was added in 2005, and in 2008, the Airport installed what might be its most beloved feature – the “Recombobulation Area” signs after security checkpoints.
The Airport was rechristened Milwaukee Mitchell
International Airport in 2019 and was recognized as one of the best airports in the world by Airports Council International in both 2021 and 2022.
“A hundred years ago, MKE was just a 165-acre property with sod turf runways along Layton Avenue,” Streicher says. Today, the Airport’s steady expansion has grown it to more than 2,300 acres, accommodating over 6 million passengers and 100,000 flights every year. Streicher adds that the Airport continues to develop today, with a new air cargo facility being built at the south end of the airfield near College Avenue and a renovated E Concourse. “There’s a lot of activity with renovation and new construction, and I can only foresee that continuing on into the future.”
A Timeline of Milwaukee’s Airport
Oct. 5, 1926: Milwaukee County purchases Hamilton Airport, a private airfield owned by local entrepreneur and aviator Thomas F. Hamilton, and renames it Milwaukee County Airport.
Aug. 20, 1927: The Airport gets a visit from famous aviator Charles Lindbergh, who was traveling the country to celebrate his completion of the first transatlantic flight.
Jan. 5, 1928: Northwest Airways begins air service from Milwaukee to Chicago, and to the Twin Cities in July.
1929-38: Despite the Great Depression, commercial aviation grows quickly. The number of passengers nationwide rose from 6,000 in 1929 to 1.2 million in 1938. To accommodate demand, a new hangar that served as an operating base for Northwest Airlines is built in 1931. In 1937, Pennsylvania Central Airlines (later Capital Airlines) begins offering flights from Mitchell to Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
July 1, 1940: A new two-story passenger terminal building opens on Layton Avenue.
March 17, 1941: The airport is renamed General Mitchell Field after Brig. Gen. William “Billy” Mitchell (1879-1936), an Army officer with Milwaukee roots who led air divisions in World War I and had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force.
Jan. 4, 1945: The U.S. War Department leases part of the airport to hold over 3,000 German prisoners of war monitored by 250 enlisted personnel at what was called Camp Billy Mitchell. The camp remains until the last 12 prisoners are transferred on April 1, 1946.
Aug. 2, 1946: The 128th Air Refueling Wing is allocated to the Wisconsin Air National Guard, establishing a base at the Airport, where the unit remains today.
July 22, 1955: The passenger terminal moves to Howell Avenue with the completion of a three-concourse, two-level structure with 23 gates. The $3.2 million project forms the core of the Airport’s present terminal complex. (Note the shape of the roadway – a beer bottle, perfect for MKE.)
1959: A Mitchell B-25 bomber is restored and donated by the Wisconsin Air National Guard and the Mitchell Field Rotary Club. The plane, named after Gen. Mitchell, is still on display at the airport.
July 1961: Milwaukee enters the jet age with Northwest’s Boeing 720B aircraft.
Sept. 4, 1964: The Beatles touch down at Mitchell for their only Wisconsin appearance. Hundreds of fans arrive to catch a glimpse of them, but the police aren’t in the mood to deal with Beatlemania, so they arrange to have the plane land away from the disappointed crowd and shuttle the Fab Four out a back exit. Paul McCartney calls it “a dirty trick” at a press conference.
1966: Mitchell accommodates nearly 1.1 million travelers, the first time it serves over a million passengers in a year.
1970s: A forerunner to the Milwaukee Air & Water Show, the Berndt Buick Milwaukee Air Show, organized by car dealership owner Lee Berndt, takes place at Mitchell for several years. Berndt also founded the International Council of Air Shows.
Sept. 7, 1985: An expanded and renovated main terminal opens, and the Airport is renamed General Mitchell International Airport. A new FAA Air Traffic Control tower opens in 1986.
1988: The Mitchell Gallery of Flight opens.
June-July 1988: Cleveland-set baseball comedy Major League is filmed in Milwaukee, including a scene at the Airport, when the players arrive for spring training.
Dec. 12, 1990: The “hammerhead” section of
Concourse D with 16 additional gates is added, along with a 2,250-space parking structure addition.
July 30, 1999: The U.S.Post Office commemorates Gen. Mitchell with a postage stamp.
Jan. 18, 2005: The Airport’s Amtrak passenger rail station opens, making MKE one of just four airports in the country to have Amtrak service.
2008: The Airport’s famous “Recombobulation Area” signs are installed to help travelers reassemble themselves after passing through the security checkpoint.
February 2019: The airport is renamed Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
2021-22: The Airport is twice recognized as one of the best airports in the world by Airports Council International.
Feb. 27, 2025: Ground is broken on a new 337,000-square-foot air cargo facility.
Sept. 16, 2025: MKE kicks off redevelopment of Concourse E, which will include two flexible-use gates capable of handling both domestic and international arrivals and departures.
Oct. 6, 2026: MKE Airport celebrates 100 years of connecting Milwaukee to the world.
