August 22, 2011 in City, Idaho

Then & Now: Lake CdA has long been airport to motorized birds

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Mid-1930s: A seaplane takes off from the Coeur d’Alene waterfront. In the center of the photo is the millworks where the Coeur d’Alene Resort now stands. Tubbs Hill is in the background.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)

Although Coeur d’Alene’s Weeks Field was among Idaho’s first airports, seaplanes have long been common on Lake Coeur d’Alene. They have been used for commercial purposes such as scouting timber or real estate, taking sportsmen to remote lakes or sightseeing over the lakes of the Northwest. Bill Brooks, of Brooks Seaplane Service on Lake Coeur d’Alene, bought into the established seaplane business of Lowell Wallace in 1946 and still goes to the office most days at age 91, though he no longer flies. Brooks’ post-war business included training pilots – mostly returning WWII soldiers with GI Bill benefits. But these days, with his son Grant at the controls, Brooks settles for sightseeing.

On the Web: Find more historic images and present-day scenes here.

–Jesse Tinsley

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