In October, Hugh Robinson, a regional daredevil gave a flying demonstration to people who had gathered at the local fairgrounds. Robinson returned several days later and landed a hydroplane on the Mississippi River to deliver airmail to the city.

“We Present Hugh Robinson, the Far Famed Aviator and Favorite of the Curtiss Co.,” La Crosse Tribune & Leader-Press 7 Oct. 1977:1; and “All is Ready for Robinson,” 18 Oct. 1911.

The city’s first airport, Salzer Field, was established. The airport was located on La Crosse’s south side at the corner of Losey Boulevard and Ward Avenue, on approximately 80 acres land owned by the Salzer Seed Company.

A group of local aviation enthusiasts formed the La Crosse Aero Club. The City and the Chamber of Commerce believed that aviation would catch on and would help bring economic growth to the local area.

On February 9th, Pilot William Carroll was en route from Milwaukee to Minneapolis/St. Paul flying the air mail route. Forced to land on the Wisconsin River due to bad weather, Carroll and two members of his crew were killed after their plane experienced an in-flight explosion over La Crosse. This tragedy had national implications. The timing of the crash occurred while debates on the government’s role in aviation were occurring. As a result, funding was cut, and only transcontinental air mail routes that ran from New York to San Francisco via Chicago and Denver survived. One of the main points of debate was the ability of the Federal Government to regulate aviation under the guidance of the constitution.

U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the case of the Wisconsin Railroad Commission, which was the predecessor of the modern Department of Transportation. The Court ruled that Federal Government has power to regulate intrastate commerce.

The Kelly Act passed, providing subsidies that all but created the American Airline Industry.

The City of La Crosse purchased the land known as Salzer Field, thus becoming the first airport in the City of La Crosse. Shortly after, Northwest Airlines began the first commercial service to La Crosse.

Having difficulty maintaining the airport because of large demands for modernization, the City of La Crosse abandoned Salzer Field on July 13.

La Crosse County Board of Supervisors leased a field on French Island to serve as a new airport. While initial work and progress on the airport was slow, a Depression Era “New Deal” program designed to put people to work allowed progress at the new airport to continue.

The new two-runway field, known as Pfafflin Field, was dedicated as the new County Airport on August 18.

Control of the new airport, however, was not assigned to the county. A contract was negotiated by the county and Ray Pfafflin for Pfafflin to operate Pfafflin Field for a period of five years after which the county then had the option to purchase.

The County Park Commission purchased the land for $14,141. After Raymond Pfafflin filed an appeal with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the county decided to give up its attempt to develop and run the airport if Mr. Pfafflin would drop his appeal.

Construction of the current airport site started and was completed in 1945.

A requirement of receiving federal airport funds is for the airport land to be publicly-owned. The City of La Crosse finally purchased Pfafflin Field in February and it became city property.

The first two 8-unit t-hangars were constructed.

Viking Aviation began servicing the Airport from a newly constructed hangar building.

The Airports first Airport Manager, Frank Muth, was hired. He served the Airport until 1956.

The La Crosse Municipal Airport, a class IV airport, was dedicated on March 1. Northwest Airlines began scheduled air service the same day with five daily flights. The three asphalt runways at the new airport were 5299 ft. x 150 ft.

The Airport constructed its first maintenance building which was removed in 2019 to make way for more corporate hangar development.

The Airport needing a place to conduct its daily business constructed a new administration building which still stands today.

The city, recognizing that continuous improvement was required, built a new terminal building.

The city hired Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Inc., to develop a “general plan” for the La Crosse Municipal Airport. Impressed with the location and layout of the airport, the consultants devised three stages of development.

The first stage consisted of building T-hangars, a large hangar, and refueling facilities, and also recommended sizes, designs, and locations for these structures. The T-hangars would solve the initial problem of having space for transient and based airplanes that must be hangared overnight. The large hangar could and should serve as an administration building until activity at the airport increased to the point where a separate administration building was required. The second and third stages of development included building other hangars when traffic warranted and hiring a director to manage the airport.

Air service continued to improve at the La Crosse Municipal Airport as the establishment kept pace with the ever-increasing requirements to safeguard all persons that utilized the aviation system. These improvements included wind indication devices, improved lighting systems, improved communication systems, emergency back-up electrical power, better snow removal equipment, security fencing, maintenance storage buildings, and a terminal building.