The 1936 Airport Adminstration Building, Shown in 1938

The Helena Municipal Airport terminal (or "administration building", as it was called) in 1938. This is the south side, facing Poplar Ave. The original terminal was built in 1931, funded by the City. The pictured 1936 terminal was funded primarily by federal WPA money A famous visitor to the 1931 terminal was aviatrix Amelia Earhartt, in 1933. A glass-enclosed control tower was added to the1936 building in 1943. The current Helena airport termnal was opened in 1978. The 1936 building was then put to other uses, including a popular cafe in the terminal space, until it was demolished in 2006. These beautiful 1938 photos of the Helena Municipal Airport terminal were sent in by Charlie Beaton, who writes: "I grew up in Helena and my Dad moved there in 1938 as a radio operator for Northwest Airlines. Here are a few photos my Dad took of the original airport terminal in 1938." Many thanks to Charlie for sharing these images.

The north (runway) side of the Helena airport terminal, 1938. A 16'x16' glass-enclosed tower was added to the top in November of 1943. The building served as the control tower/terminal until 1978, when the current terminal was completed. The old building was demolished in April of 2006, but the tower was saved by Don and Barb Hulett, who moved it to their Lakeside home...

The WPA Air-Marking Project
Helped Early Fliers Know Where They Were

More about Louise Thaden

A Lockheed Electra at the Helena Airport, 1938.

 

 

Helena airport terminal interior, 1938. Note the Norhwest Airlines sign and counter.

 

 

Helena airport terminal, 1938. Second-floor control room

 

 

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Northwest Airlines Douglas DC-3, 1938

 

 

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Northwest Airlines Lockheed 14-H Super Electra, 1938

Eleanor Roosevelt Stopover, 1938

 

Helena Airport, 1940

COURTESY OF TOM KILMER

COURTESY OF TOM KILMER

Thanks, Tom, for sharing this great image.

 

Airport Control Tower, 1943

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Anna Lou and Harold Weggenman at the Airport, ca. 1946

COURTESY OF SHAWNA WEGGENMAN BAKE

 

 

Helena Girls Scouts in Airport Hangar, circa 1949

COLLECTION OF KENNON BAIRD • CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A BIG VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW

According to the seller of this photograph, these are Helena Girl Scouts on a field trip to the Helena Municipal Airport. The date is 1949-50. The following nineteen names are signed on the reverse of the photograph (seventeen girls are pictured): Dot Carlson, Nancy Wood, Dawn Wood, Louise Peterson, Karlene Miller, Gayette Fredregill, Pat Kindrick, Shirley Bausch, Mildred Painter, Sue Wiley, Beverley Easbey, Polly MacDonald, Sue Wiley, Marcia Chezick, Donna Pugh, Nancy Mason, Lilah Lee Hartzog, Helen Willard.

Helena Airport Terminal, 1951

COURTESY OF KATHRYN FEHLIG

Helena Airport Hangars and New Paving, 1951

COURTESY OF KATHRYN FEHLIG • CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A BIG VIEW IN A NEW WINDOW

 

 

Airport Paving, 1951

COURTESY OF KATHRYN FEHLIG

 

Hollywood Stars, 1952

FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY "I'VE MET THEM ALL" BY WALTER H. MARSHALL - NOW OUT OF PRINT

Several motion picture stars made a publicty stop in Helena in June of 1952. Pictured on the tarmac of the Helena Municipal Airport, left to right, are: John Derek (5th from left); Robert Wagner (6th from left); Donna Reed (7th from left); Montana Governor John Bonner (9th from left). The others are Montana movie theater operators.

Western Airlines DC-6 at Helena, circa 1960

COURTESY OF P. CHRISTIAAN KLIEGER

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