Those traveling into Macomb from the south on Highway 67 will notice on the left some out buildings being torn down, freshly planted corn where for decades there was only grass, and recently the rubble of what looks to have been a house or a business.
What that picture does not tell is what a hustling, bustling small town fixture that acreage used to be. A place where hundreds of pilots learned to fly. A place where dreams came true. A place that even saw legendary visitor Amelia Earhart stop by while on a visit to the now Western Illinois University.
At the McDonough County Fair, August 5-8, 1913, many Macomb citizens probably laid eyes on the first airplane they had ever seen. A barnstormer named Jimmy Ward performed stunts in a Curtiss biplane.
At that time airplanes had almost no commercial use, but had proven their worth during World War 1. In the 1920s they would become an important means by which both passengers and mail was transported.
Macomb’s first pioneer aviator was motorcycle racer and auto mechanic Roy H.
