Montana's historic airway beacons focus of history presentation
During the late 1920s and early '30s, the Federal Airway Division installed a chain of lighted airway beacons across the country to guide pilots across dark skies. Today, Montana is the only state that still maintains those beacons, and the historic towers can be spotted — day and night — throughout the western mountains.
The Northwest Montana Posse of Westerners history organization will host a presentation titled "Guiding Lights: Montana's Historic Airway Beacon System" by Kate Hampton next Monday in Kalispell.
During the late 1920s and early '30s, the Federal Airway Division installed a chain of lighted airway beacons across the country to guide pilots across dark skies. Today, Montana is the only state that still maintains those beacons, and the historic towers can be spotted — day and night — throughout the western mountains.
Eight of the beacons are listed, or are in the process of being listed, in the National Register of Historic Places. The beacon at MacDonald Pass is the most prominent of the historic beacons and the only one that is easily accessible.
Hampton, who will host Monday's presentation, is the community preservation officer at the Montana Historical Society's State Historic Preservation Office in Helena, where she works with local community preservation programs to document and preserve cultural resources.
She is a contributing author of numerous articles, book chapters, nominations, projects and cultural resource reports and hosts presentations on places throughout the West. She has studied and written about Montana's historic sites and the architectural landscape that not only makes the state unique, but also ties its history to the rest of the nation.
Hampton's presentation will be at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell. Greetings and book signings will start at 5:15 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m. and the presentation at 7 p.m.
Dinner costs $19 and includes the presentation. Walk-in seating without dinner will be available free to Posse of Westerners members and youth 16 and under, and $5 each for non-members. Reservations can be made by calling 406-752-9642 or sending an email to kbrittonrn@gmail.com.