The Night Chicago Destroyed Meigs Field: The 2003 Runway Bulldozing Explained
Six large X's dug into Meigs' only runway settled a simmering dispute and put the airport out of commission for good.
By Aaron SprayZimbabwe
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Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport was a single-runway airport in Chicago on Northerly Island, an artificial peninsula in Lake Michigan. The airport operated between 1948 and 2003 and was built to serve general aviation after the Second World War. In the 1950s, it became the busiest single-strip airport in the United States and had an air traffic control tower in 1952 and a terminal in 1961.
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About this article
- Length
- 66 words · 1 min read
- Published
- October 20, 2026
- Byline
- Aaron Spray
- Source
- Simple Flying