A giant concrete arrow and skeletal beacon tower built in the 1920s to visually guide early US airmail pilots across the continent

[u/Effective-Dish-1334]

Before radio navigation or modern radar, the US Postal Service had to figure out how to keep airmail pilots on course at night. Their solution was the Transcontinental Airway System.

They built a massive visual highway across the country by pouring 50 foot concrete arrows into the ground, painted bright yellow, with a rotating gas beacon on top. I find it incredible that pilots literally had to look down at the physical ground to navigate across the continent. Once better instruments were developed, the towers were largely dismantled, but many of the concrete arrows are still sitting out in remote areas today.

I put together some more context and maps of the original routes here: https://thehistoricalinsights.page/2026/07/giant-concrete-arrows-america-before-gps.html

[u/fendermrc]

It’s an interesting story in a clean, looking site. However, I’m really disappointed that there was not one single photo of one of the arrows that are one of the hero items.
Are there no photographs in existence?

[u/goldman60 → u/fendermrc]

There are both contemporary photos and surviving original arrows you can just go out and see https://savingplaces.org/stories/the-true-story-behind-those-giant-concrete-arrows

Edit: typo