08/29/2026
Ever notice the tall tower and rotating beacon at KREI?
That iconic landmark has a much deeper story than most people realize.
KREI’s tower and beacon date back more than a century to the pioneering days of the U.S. Air Mail. In the early 1920s, the government built a nationwide system of lighted airways so pilots could safely fly the mail at night. Beacons were placed roughly every 10 miles, each powered by its own generator. Many early airmail pilots lost their lives before this system existed.
A beautifully restored example of one of these original beacons (complete with 51-foot tower and generator building) still stands today at Flabob Airport in Jurupa Valley, honoring those early pilots.
Most of the federal airway beacons were eventually decommissioned as radio navigation took over. The very last one was removed in 1972 from a site just east of Cabazon in Whitewater Canyon. That final beacon is now preserved at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
Our Redlands beacon and tower were given a second life. Surplus FAA equipment was installed here in February 1966 to serve as the airport’s rotating beacon. Contemporary Redlands Daily Facts articles from 1965 and 1966 document the project and reveal the original locations:
• The beacon came from Box Springs Mountain (north of March Air Force Base)
• The tower came from near Beaumont in the Banning Pass
It’s a tangible piece of early aviation history still guiding pilots into Redlands today.
📷 Swipe through for photos of our beacon + historical context
🔗 Full documentation (including the 1924 charts and original newspaper articles):https://raacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Redlands-Beacon-and-Tower-Historical-Info.pdf
🔗 Smithsonian story on the last airway beacon: A Guiding Light
The Airway Beacon Tower:
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/guiding-light-airway-beacon-tower
Next time you’re at the airport, take a second look at that tower. It’s more than just a navigational aid—it’s living history.
AirportBeacon
