Many know the Clinton F. Woolsey Memorial Airport in Northport by its quaint fieldstone terminal, or have enjoyed a pancake breakfast by its freshly mowed runways at the annual Northport Lions Fly-In. It’s a lucky moment to witness the action at the Leelanau Township-owned airport, considering the average 2.5 takeoffs or landings per day, and with only aircraft with skis able to fly in and out during the winter.

In the summer there’s an uptick in charter flights — about four per week — including some for celebrities who have homes in the Northport area.

But what many may not realize is that Clinton F. Woolsey himself was a celebrity and aviation hero whose tragic death led his bereaved family to dedicate their farm to become an airport at the peninsula’s tip.

And now, after massive research and work by community members and Woolsey’s descendants, Northport is celebrating the fact that a Michigan Historical Marker for Clinton F. Woolsey Memorial Airport was officially approved. The public is invited to a dedication celebration at the airport (13591 E. Woolsey Lake Road) at noon, Wednesday July 14. The US Coast Guard will do a fly over for the occasion, and the current “Keep Out” signs on the stone terminal will come down so the curious can peek inside. (More on the reason for those formidable signs in a moment.)

The story behind the airport is nothing short of remarkable.

Before it was an airport terminal, the distinctive stone structure was the creamery at a dairy farm north of Northport called Golden Rod Farm. Clinton Woolsey’s father Byron Woolsey built that creamery when he was a teenager.

As Lynn Contos, the great niece of Clinton Woolsey shares with the Leelanau Ticker, Byron became the “man of the family” as well as a farmer and a builder at the tender age of 14, after his father was killed in battle in the Civil War. (In addition to his family’s barn and creamery, Byron built the house on Gull Island, did the stone work on Atwill Chapel on Northport Point, and likely built the quirky corner store that’s now the Porcupine in the village Northport.)

And here’s how his dairy farm became an airport: In 1916 Byron’s son Clinton Fisk Woolsey enlisted in the National Guard. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and was one of Charles Lindbergh’s flight instructors. In 1926, Clinton — now an Army Air Corps captain — was chosen as chief engineer of a party of five planes to take a Pan American Good Will flight to South America. This was to be a 20,000-mile tour over four-plus months in open planes — a monumental flight.

As Contos tells it, “Captain Woolsey and Lieutenant Benton were flying the Detroit, and while the planes were flying over Buenos Aires, Argentina, the wings of the Detroit and New York collided in mid-air.”

Benton was out on the wing trying to repair an issue with the landing gear when the collision occurred.

“Woolsey, in hopes of bringing the plane down so that Benton’s life could hopefully be saved, ended up crashing and both flyers were killed. Woolsey could have parachuted out and saved his own life, but heroically did what he could to try and save his co-pilot,” she says.

Woolsey was 32 years old at the time of the crash. He was to be buried in Arlington Cemetery, but his wife, Rosalie, chose to have him buried in Northport.

Says Contos, “The funeral in Northport had overflow crowds, with 2,000 people braving a snowstorm to attend. Byron, wanting a memorial to his son, approached Leelanau Township with the idea of an airport. The township accepted the 80 acres that Byron donated, then later added its own 120 acres. The WPA worked on the airport and built the runway.”

Contos was among those who worked to get a Michigan Historical Marker for Clinton Woolsey and the airport.

“The planes that Clinton and the other pilots flew had open cockpits, no radios or gyroscopic flight instruments or flight maps for uncharted territory. I believe it is important to honor pioneers who dare to step out and make progress for all of the rest of us,” she says. “Their deeds advance us all.”

Garnering first-time — or renewed — local curiosity in this Leelanau landmark could not have come at a more crucial time. Airport manager Tom Wetherbee shares, “Our beloved terminal building is in need of serious repairs.”

Reroofing, mortar and drainage work has been done through the years — much of it by volunteers — but now Leelanau Township is taking the lead on what are significant repairs needed for the 1874-era structure.

“It’s always going to be a damp building, because it’s a barn,” says Wetherbee, “but now, inside the terminal, water is seeping through the concrete from the flat roof, causing severe cracking. You can see stalactites hanging from the ceiling where the rain dissolves the concrete.”

Ben Purdy, facilities manager for Leelanau Township reports that plans to stabilize the structure are underway, with restoration specialists and structural engineers from Machin Engineering in Traverse City out at the terminal last week assessing next steps.

Purdy says there is funding from the township for the immediate shoring needed, and for the further testing of the walls and ceiling that will happen this fall. “Once the engineering design is done and we know what the total project cost will be, we can seek additional funding at that point,” he notes.

Wetherbee says that may require a combination of township general funds, grant money and donations from those who care about the airport. “We will be accepting private fundraising; at this point contributions can be sent to the Leelanau Township office, but we will get a better mechanism in place soon,” he says.

Adds Contos, “I am thrilled that Leelanau Township is looking to do repairs to the airport. The building has multiple issues as you would expect for a building well over 100 years old, built by a young man who was really just a teen. Many people love this special airport and are coming forward to offer help now.”

Want more Woolsey? The Leelanau Historical Society and amateur historians Christine Byron and Tom Wilson will lead a virtual program at 7pm on July 13, delving deeper into the history of the Woolsey family in Northport, Clinton Woolsey’s epic adventure and his untimely death, and chronicling the founding of the airport. Register for the event here. 

Pictured: The iconic Woolsey terminal, courtesy Tom Wetherbee