Prewitt, New Mexico Rotating Beacon, 1929

This 1929 photo, from a DoC (Dept of Commerce) journal article by Thomas Chapman, shows the airway beacon light tower under construction at Prewitt (Thoreau), NM. The stoic burro in the foreground was referred to as the “Superintendent of Airways Construction.” This framed photo was a memento given by staff to Fred Hingsburg, the Chief Engineer for the Airways Division.”

“Prewitt (Thoreau) was DoC Site 69 on the original 1929 Winslow-Gallup-Albuquerque segment of the mid-continent airway, first served by Transcontinental Air Transport in July, 1929. It was one of several beacon lights to be shut down in early 1930, as the beacon route was being realigned to match with the new four-course radio range signals. It is not clear where this Prewitt beacon tower was relocated along the new direct airway line.

The above Air Commerce Bulletin describes the shutdown of these beacons, soon to be relocated along the radio beam from new radio range sites at Albuquerque and Winslow for this section of the airway.

The above sketch is the layout of the Prewitt beacon arrow using the identifier TAT.  Arrow location: 35°21’45.27″N 108° 2’45.71″W