VAN ORIN — A final piece of Illinois airport history will be taken down in the coming months.

Chuck Fischer said a Van Orin airport designation pole, along with a nearby corncrib, some trees and a fence, will be taken down to clear space for more farmland. The rural Van Orin airport, which closed about 70 years ago, was located about one-half mile east of Van Orin and just north of Route 92. The remaining pole is located on property currently owned by his mother, Fischer said.

From what he’s been told, the rural Van Orin airport was used as a stopping place as needed for government planes traveling between Chicago and the Quad Cities. The runway was about one-half mile long. It’s unknown if the runway was concrete or just dirt.