Q. What Scenic City first took place exactly 100 years ago, on March 24, 1925?
A. If you absolutely, positively had to get a letter somewhere overnight, well, you may have been out of luck in Chattanooga in the early to mid-1920s. But, a sign that things might change some day came flying in March 24, 1925, when the Scenic City received its first airmail delivery.
"A new era in mail transportation in the South dawned early yesterday morning when Jack T. Turner of Birmingham, veteran aviator of the World War, soared down in his army airplane on Marr Field, bearing pouches of letters from Birmingham city officials to civic leaders here," the Chattanooga Daily Times reported March 25, 1925.
Turner was accompanied by fellow pilot Glenn E. Messer. Turner told the Times the trip took a little more than two hours despite "flying into the very teeth of stiff headwinds nearly all the way and had some trouble finding a landing place when we reached Chattanooga. Then, too, we were flying over what are practically uncharted air routes. We encountered some of the roughest air pockets of my experience over Lookout Mountain, and the plane required some careful handling."
The flight, and its return flight the next day, required stops in between to refuel.
Turner and Messer's plane was greeted by "a host of delighted Chattanooga businessmen and civic leaders who crowded about them with congratulations over the success of the trip," the Times reported.
The flight was part of an effort by officials in both cities to promote the feasibly of airmail between the municipalities, both of which hoped to be included on a Chicago to New Orleans route, according to the Times.
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Chattanoogan E.R. Rogers, field representative of the Famous Players-Lasky film distribution corporation, obtained sanctioning for the flight from Assistant Postmaster General Paul Henderson of Washington, the Times reported.
"In September 1927, Famous Players-Lasky was reorganized under the name Paramount Famous Lasky Corp., later becoming the Paramount Pictures Corporation," according to the.hitchcock.zone.
The men made the trip in a Curtis "Jenny" powered by a motor from the Spanish company Hispano-Suiza, which had been founded in 1904. The plane had a top speed of about 60 knots (69 mph). Cost to include a letter in the flight was 8 cents per ounce, and each letter and parcel was stamped with special insignia, "The First Air Mail. Birmingham to Chattanooga. March 24, 1925," according to the Times.
And how did the Scenic City look from the air?
"I can hardly see how it is necessary to advertise Chattanooga, except to those who have never been here," Turner told the Times. "To those who have once seen your city, the memory should linger in their minds as one of the beauty spots of the world. Especially is this apparent when the city and the ranges which surround it are seen from the air."
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After landing, Turner and Messer were taken to the federal building, where they received a standing ovation from postal employees. Other stops in town included the Hotel Patten, the Times reported. The men flew back to Birmingham the next day, carrying mail that included the reels of the Paramount production, "The Air Mail."
Messer would be part of another first 50 years later when, at age 79, he reenacted the flight from Birmingham to Chattanooga to celebrate its golden anniversary. For that trip, Messer flew a four-seat Cessna, with a top speed of about 170 knots (195 mph), according to published reports.
Among those on hand to greet Messer at the Chattanooga Airport on March 24, 1975, were Jack Turner Jr., a World War II Navy pilot and son of Messer's 1925 copilot, the late Jack Turner Sr., according to the next day's Chattanooga News-Free Press. Officials at the Birmingham airport said it was the first time in U.S. history a 50th anniversary flight had been reenacted by the original pilot.
The reenactment had been arranged by stamp clubs in both cities with the support of the postal service, which issued commemorative envelopes for the trip, according to the News-Free Press.
"It's been a real source of satisfaction to know that I flew the first mail, and 50 years later, I was able to fly the second run," Messer told the paper.
Messer, who learned to fly in 1911, had been issued the first official pilot's license in the South in 1926, according to the News-Free Press. He died in 1995.
Do you have Chattanooga related trivia to share or a question you'd like answered? Email news@timesfreepress.com with subject line Chattanooga Knows.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton/ The Chattanooga Airport, seen Feb. 12, 2025, was the site in 1975 of a 50th anniversary reenactment of the first airmail flight into the Scenic City, which occurred March 24, 1925.