Inaugural Bloomington Flight Ozark Air Lines, Nov. 6, 1950

The holiday season often means hectic times for those traveling by air. Commercial air service to Bloomington began on Nov. 6, 1950 wit...

Bloomington Municipal Airport Terminal, April 1964

The period from Wednesday through Sunday around Thanksgiving is usually the busiest travel time of the year in the U.S. Fortunately for...

Men with Hats Passenger Service Inaugurated Old ‘Bloomington’ Airport, 1931

The first Bloomington Airport was actually located several miles north of Normal and featured a turf landing field. This October 1, 193...

Ozark Air Lines Touches Down Bloomington Municipal Airport, Nov. 6, 1950

An estimated 200 area residents were on hand at the Municipal Airport (now Central Illinois Regional Airport) to celebrate the start of...

Future Flying Farmers? Bloomington Municipal Airport, 1953

The McLean County chapter of Flying Farmers offered free airplane rides to some 70 moms and dads on Father’s Day, June 21, 1953. Mother...

Heyworth High and Environs January 1933

This wonderful aerial photograph of Heyworth High School dates to January 23, 1933. The view is looking east-northeast into town.In man...

Randolph from On High Undated Aerial

Central Illinois is dotted with the tiniest of communities that owe their existence to the railroad boom of the nineteenth century. Man...

Carlock from the Air Circa 1930

The Village of Carlock, established in 1888, is seen here in an undated but circa 1930 aerial. The view is northwest. “A” shows the Lak...

B-29 Bomber Visits Courthouse Square June 13, 1950

Back during the early years of the Cold War the fuselage of a U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress was put on display on the McLean County...

Bloomington Municipal Airport June 20, 1941

This aerial view of Bloomington Municipal Airport (now Central Illinois Regional Airport, or CIRA) looks northwest and shows the main h...

‘Lucky Lindy’ Bails Out November 1926

On the evening of November 3, 1926, Charles Lindbergh jumped out of his U.S. airmail biplane somewhere in the skies far above McLean Co...

The Tilbury Flash on display at Central Illinois Regional Airport

The McLean County Museum of History’s largest artifact, the Tilbury Flash racing plane, has officially arrived at the Central Illinois ...

Chenoa Airport, 1948

The most recent Sunday Pantagraph “Page from Our Past” installment examined the fascinating history of Chenoa airport, which opened in ...