The Forgotten Arrows That Can Guide You Across America


In the days before electronics, radar and such, people had to make do with what they had. They also kept trying to find ways to deliver mail faster. In the days well before email, they were trying to get coast to coast mail delivered in days instead of weeks. By the 1920s airplanes had become fairly well developed, and using them to carry bulk mail seemed like a good idea, but without instrumentation or even maps, it was easy to get lost. The idea was then born to create beacons, and large concrete arrows, to guide planes across the country.

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It seems like the stuff of an urban legend, but it is true, and some of them can still be found around the country. They were built, along with beacons, about every 10 miles and were at times 75 feet long. The beacons made night flying more possible, and the arrows just made sure the pilot knew which direction to go after getting to the beacon.

It was during World War I that the usefulness of airplanes became apparent. They were used the primarily for checking out the movement of the enemy, and only rarely for actual fighting and bombs were not developed well enough for much use. After the war there was a big surplus of planes. The pony express had died out, and trains were an option, but people wondered if they could get mail going even faster and to other locations. That is when the idea was born.

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Image via: Core77

 

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The arrows idea caught on, and in 1924 the program received support from the federal government and the project was begun. In just a couple of years there were arrows from New York City to San Francisco, every 10 miles or so. This made it possible to fly at night, and mail could then be taken across the country in 30 hours.

 

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Image via: Clay Fraser

By World War II, radio was going strong, and technology had developed even further with flying. By then the beacons were obsolete and most of the towers were torn down to help with the war effort. The arrows remain, however. They were never taken up, but many have been overcome by development. They can still be found though at various places across the nation. There are many still visible in the desert southwest, and can be found on Google maps.

 

Image via: Review Journal