In 1903, Chicago fell in love with flying. Enterprising people opened airfields and designed and built aircraft, and aviators won big money at air meets. After World War I, aviation was a serious matter with explosive commercial potential. A transcontinental airmail service was established and became the impetus for the first airlines. Aspiring to be first in aviation, the City of Chicago considered each of its existing airfields to develop into its new, modern municipal airport. It chose none of them and instead decided on a square mile of property 10 miles southwest of the city as the location for what would soon become the "World's Busiest Airport."
Images of America: Midway Airport contains images and stories from the Midway Historians, of which author David Kent is a founding member. The book captures the ethos and thrill of the Midway experience during a time when people dressed up for air travel or just visited the airport, dined at the Cloud Room, and gazed from Midway's observation platforms at the incredible aerial ballet before them. It was a magical time, when flying off into the clouds in beautiful silver airliners meant traveling in style and following aviation's romantic call. Today, Midway Airport remains a roaring, rumbling, bustling center of air transportation and the busiest square mile in the world.