Georgia Magazine - February 2023 - 29

Curious GEORGIA
By Angela Minor
Giant, mysterious arrows
point to ... what?
T
he year was 1920. Airplane flight was less than two
decades old. And when the sun dipped below the
horizon, darkness obscured the mountains, rivers, rail
lines and roads that aviators of the time used for navigation.
However, this inability to fly at night and in inclement
weather was about to change. Enter the Transcontinental Air
Mail Route, the world's first ground-based civilian navigation
system.
As it spread across the country, this ingenious infrastructure
solved aviation's navigational challenge. From the early
1920s to the early 1930s, some 1,500 airway beacon stations
were built. Each location had a rotating light on a tower and a
generator shack sitting atop a 50- to 70- foot concrete arrow
lying flat on the ground. The bright yellow arrows pointed the
way by day, and revolving beacons-along with colored lights
flashing Morse code-guided pilots along the new routes
at night.
" In some regards, these arrows are the bones of early
airplane navigation, " says Nick Gerlich, a self-proclaimed
arrow hunter and professor of
marketing at West Texas A&M
University in Canyon, Texas.
" They helped usher in a new
era in mail delivery. Like an
invisible interstate highway in the
sky, [these airways] became the
initial pathways for delivering the
mail between important hubs. "
Historical maps show that
28 airway beacons once lit the
night skies in Georgia. Today,
only two arrows remain-one in
Bartow County and the other in
Hart County. So what happened
to these testaments to ingenuity?
" Radio communications and
radar were introduced, " Gerlich says. " Now there are only about
130 known arrows [left in the country]. The remainder have
become shrouded in trees or soil or intentionally destroyed by
property owners and even the U.S. government during World
War II, lest an enemy air attack suddenly find the routes.
" I have been chasing concrete navigation arrows for more
than five years ... and have built entire road trips around [it]. I've
been known to drive hundreds of miles out of my way just to see
one. I even built a custom Google Map to keep track. "
The enthusiasm for these structures inspires arrow
hunters across the country to find, photograph and share
their discoveries.
Above: The arrow in Bartow County lies in
a gated community, and a sign explains its
signifi cance. Left: The arrow in Hart County
is near the aptly named Beacon Light Road.
Bartow County's arrow resides in a gated community that
was built around it, and an informational sign is placed at the
site to honor this moment in history. And the arrow in Hart
County appears to have a caretaker. It lies in an open field mere
yards from a street (named Beacon Light Road) and stays neatly
cleared of soil and grass.
Airmail beacon stations expanded the possibilities of flight
and opened the frontiers of aviation.
" I see the arrows as part of a much broader paradigm of
transportation. And when you see it that way, you begin to see
[their importance to] humanity, " Gerlich says.
Angela Minor is a freelance writer in Cleveland, Tenn.
www.georgiamagazine.org
29
NICK GERLICH
NICK GERLICH
http://www.georgiamagazine.org
Georgia Magazine - February 2023

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