Mysterious Concrete Arrows Point To An Incredible Origin
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Across the country, we can find many forgotten relics of the past that remind us of eras before technology ruled our lives. An excellent example of such relics are giant concrete arrows that have quite an incredible history and are a testament to American ingenuity.
When the U.S. government was looking for a more efficient way to deliver mail, they employed retired Army aircraft to get the job done. Unfortunately, in 1924 there were no radios, GPS, or any other communication systems, so pilots were forced to use landmarks to guide their routes.
The government funded a project to construct these enormous concrete arrows across the country on established mail routes. They were placed every ten miles or so and acted as road maps for the pilots of the United States Postal Service.
The arrows were painted bright yellow and measured anywhere from 30 to 50 feet long. They were also accompanied by a rotating gas-powered light tower and a cabin for the caretakers to stay.
One look at an image from a Google satellite gives you an idea of just how massive these arrows are. The one below is in Hurricane, Utah, and it dwarfs the road that runs nearby, so it’s likely that you’re not going to miss it if you come across one.
It was said that the arrows and towers were visible for up to 10 miles into the air, and they were instrumental in allowing pilots to effectively navigate during bad weather and at night, which was the preferred time to fly.
By the start of WWII, radio had become the king of communications, rendering the airway beacons obsolete. With the war effort sucking up resources, the government scrapped many of the towers and recycled them for the war.
It’s unknown just how many of these timeless relics are still in existence, but according to Messy Nessy Chic, at least three have been preserved by a program called Passport in Time. But many of the concrete arrows can still be found across the country in remote locations, and some may still be visible from the sky if they haven’t been overrun by vegetation.
To some, they may just be slabs of concrete nobody cares about, but to others they’re an incredible piece of history that shows us what life was like before the technology we’re accustomed to now. Make sure you share this with others to preserve the history of these forgotten arrows.