Compass Rose
In 1919, the Post Office built a new hangar and a "compass rose" at
College Park (both still exist today). The compass rose was a concrete
compass in the ground to permanently display true north. At the time,
airplane compasses needed to be calibrated before every flight. Pilots
lined up their plane on the rose's north-south directional axis to
calibrate their compass.
New Frontier Hazards
The need for reliably delivering the
mail regularly clashed with the relatively primitive aircraft and
equipment. Pilots faced many dangers including bad weather, unfamiliar
territory, inadequate planes, and unreliable navigational equipment. Max
Miller and many others died delivering the mail and opening new routes.
In 1921, the College Park airmail station closed when the New
York-California route was instituted. By 1926, the Post Office
Department was contracting airmail service to private enterprises that
would evolve into the commercial airline industry we utilize today.