Soo Skyways Airport

The farm boy the bronze sends aloft here paid Roy Lanning $65 for lessons his biographers date to 1938. Joe Foss, born near Sioux Falls on April 17, 1915, built about 100 hours in a flying course at the University of South Dakota and joined the Marines in 1940. Over Guadalcanal with VMF-121 from October 1942 he was credited with 26 aircraft, and Franklin Roosevelt gave him the Medal of Honor on May 18, 1943. He served from 1955 to 1959 as the state's twentieth governor, and the airport that replaced this one is Joe Foss Field.

What the plaque says

Soo Skyways Airport Following the advent of powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903, the dawning air age slowly arrived in Sioux Falls. In June 1912, a Curtis Pusher biplane was the first airplane to enter the skies over the city. It was delivered by railroad car and reassembled before flight. While World War I gave exposure to the airplane, aircraft were generally a rarity until returning army aviators flying surplus military training air- planes, created images of the daredevil stunt pilot and the "flying circus." Foremost among the local flying adventurers was Lt. Harold W. Tennant. In addition to performing at scores of air shows, he played a leading role in advancing aviation in this area. During this barnstorming era, Congress enacted the Air Mail Act of 1925. Realizing the potential impact of being located on an airmail route, community leaders formed the Sioux Falls Airport Holding Company. It purchased farm land located south of 41st Street which it leased to the city for an airport. To operate the airport, the city contracted with Soo Skyways Airport Company which was formed by a group of local businessmen that included Rush A. Brown, C.H. Peck, John Morrell Foster, and Knapp Brown. Three grass runways soon traversed Soo Skyways Airport. Two runways made a large "X" between Western and Kiwanis Avenues, and a third east- west runway was situated near present 49th Street. (Continued on other side) Dedicated in 1996 by the Minnehaha County and South Dakota State Historical Societies, Mary Chilton DAR and Sioux Falls Area Foundations, Peder & Marge Ecker, Arlen L. "Arnie" Hauge, and in memory of Rush A. Brown and John Morrell Foster Soo Skyways Airport (Continued from other side) Facilities at the airport grew to include six hangers, administration, repair and maintenance buildings, and a sizeable fleet of airplanes for instruction and charter service. Soo Skyways Airport became a base for area barnstormers and served as the location for the Sioux Falls Air Races in 1929, 1930 and 1931. Competition included several classes of races and balloon busting, bombing and parachute jumping contests. The tower building at Columbus College, today a part of the Royal C. Johnson Memorial Hospital, served as one of the pylons for the races. Joe Foss, a young Minnehaha County farm boy, first learned to fly at the airport in 1936. As a Marine fighter pilot, Foss went on to become a World War II "ace." He later became the 30th governor of South Dakota. Hanford Tri-State and United Airlines were the first scheduled airlines to provide passenger service to Sioux Falls. The fare from Soo Skyways Airport to Sioux City, Iowa was $4.32. As the volume of mail and passengers grew throughout the 1930s, the airlines began using larger and faster aircraft requiring longer runways and improved flight facilities. In 1939, to meet these demands, Sioux Falls municipal airport was established on the northwest edge of the city. With airline traffic moving to the new municipal airport, interest in the Soo Skyways Airport dwindled until it closed in 1946. Dedicated in 1996 by the Minnehaha County and South Dakota State Historical Societies, Mary Chilton DAR and Sioux Falls Area Foundations, Peder & Marge Ecker, Arlen L. "Arnie" Hauge, and in memory of Rush A. Brown and John Morrell Foster

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Falls Park — 3.9 mi
  The falls a town company came for in 1856, abandoned in 1862, and tried to make pay with a seven-story quartzite mill that ran for barely two years.

More markers nearby

• Sherman Park Indian Burial Mounds — 1.7 mi
• An Institution of Organized Kindness — 1.9 mi
• All Saints Historic District: From Glory to Glory — 2.4 mi
• Eliza Tupper Wilkes — 2.7 mi