Twelve Mile Circle has a fascination with little chunks of land stranded on the “wrong” sides of rivers that occur when waterways change course. Usually this happens when severe flooding digs a new channel through a gradually sloping area of relatively soft soil.
I noticed just such a spot in St. Joseph, Missouri awhile ago and I’ve finally had an opportunity to explore it a little further. I won’t spend a great deal of time on the significance of the larger concept. I’ve already covered it several times previously with places such as Kaskaskia, DeSoto Point, and Carter Lake. Nonetheless it’s a neat little anomaly that’s probably worth noting because of A feature that exists on that stranded plot of land: an airport!
Rosecrans Memorial Airport
Rosecrans Memorial Airport honors Guy Wallace Rosecrans, a military airman from St. Joseph who died during World War I. He had the unfortunate fate of being struck by a propeller when helping another aviator start his plane.
This was actually the third St. Joseph airport named in his honor and its construction dated to 1939. The Great Flood of 1951 changed the course of the Missouri River, cutting off the airport from the rest of St. Joseph. The old watercourse became an oxbow that they named Browning Lake. A more complete history exists on the airport website.
Usually when I observe these phenomena I wonder why the two parties don’t simply reconfigure the border to match the new path for the sake of convenience. That never happens of course. In this case though, I think St. Joseph was perfectly justified to hang onto its airport. It’s a little more substantial than the minor patches of swamp or farmland that usually switch sides.
They Still Use It
Commercial airlines haven’t served this airport since the 1960’s but visitors flying in on private planes consider it a good option. They face much less air traffic than they would experience at nearby Kansas City International. They don’t have to pay a landing fee either. People use it fairly regularly — check out the live flight tracking on FlightAware. It also serves as a base for the Missouri Air National Guard’s 139th Airlift Wing.
Travelers leaving the City of St. Joseph by automobile have no choice but to leave their home state to get to their local airport. This isn’t much of an imposition in reality. The detour through Kansas lasts only about four miles and it’s not like there are any border restrictions. They didn’t even put up a sign at the state border leading up to the airport entrance (street view).
I also loved the thought of a Missouri Air National Guard base located behind “enemy” lines. Well, maybe only minor rivals perhaps, but it still struck me as funny.
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