Blue Grass Airport may be a well-established air travel hub today, but Lexingtonians in 1935 would have been surprised by its location.
Airport officials unveiled a marker Monday highlighting the role of the city’s largely forgotten second airport, Glengarry Field.
At the time of its dedication, the field was expected to eventually be home to air operations in Lexington. The facility, later renamed Cool Meadow Airport, played host to air shows – then called air circuses – along with sightseeing tours and private flying lessons.
But by 1940, the airport was viewed as ill-equipped to handle bigger commercial flights and attention shifted elsewhere in the city. The spot now houses thoroughbred auction company Fasig-Tipton, but Blue Grass executive director Eric Frankl some unique episodes in the city's aviation history took place there.
"[It] really was an integral part of the development of aviation in Lexington," he says. "It was really the first time Lexintonians could fly, not necessarily via commercial airline, but direct air taxi service from Lexington to Louisville at the time."
Monday, Blue Grass Airport officials revealed a marker at the entrance of Fasig-Tipton, celebrating the location’s dual legacy.
