A donated farm became Blackman's working airport

In 1927, Wiley and Sara Reynolds donated about 160 acres of farmland so Jackson could have an aviation field. The first dirt runways opened the next year. The airport landed in Blackman Township, even though its name and mailing address point toward Jackson.

Federal work programs added a brick terminal in 1934 and a large municipal hangar in 1937. Both buildings are still used. The War Department and Army Corps built paved, lighted runways in 1942, and American Airlines began passenger service in 1948.

The city sold the airport to Jackson County for one dollar in 1976 so a broader tax base could support it. Today Reynolds Field is a 950-acre general-aviation airport with more than 100 based aircraft. A farm gift from the early flying years became a major working landscape in Blackman Township.

This is not a preserved airport where the history stopped. County planning treats Reynolds Field as active transportation and business infrastructure, while the 1930s terminal and hangar continue doing airport work. That overlap is the interesting part: New Deal brick buildings, World War II-era runway development, and present-day aircraft operations occupy the same property. Visitors should use public airport areas and respect signs around the airfield rather than treating the runways as a park.