This airport was originally built in the 1930s by local aviator
J. Howard Wilcox. In 1938, the airport installed an airway beacon that remains operational as of 2025. In December 1941, Wilcox was asked to head the
Kansas Wing of the newly organized
Civil Air Patrol (CAP). The Anthony Airport became the Kansas Wing headquarters of the Civil Air Patrol on December 21, 1941. In early 1942, Anthony Municipal Airport served as the Civil Air Patrol’s primary training base for Kansas. During
World War II, the
United States Army Air Forces stationed several
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers there. In the late 1950s, the Civil Air Patrol’s Kansas Wing headquarters relocated from Anthony to Wichita. Around the same time, J. Howard Wilcox left airport management to pursue a legal career. CAP returned to Anthony in 2008 as a Color Guard in the Anthony Balloon Fest Parade. Although CAP has not yet been re-established in Anthony, CAP has made several appearances in the Harper County Fair Parade in
Harper, Kansas, and in the Anthony Christmas Parade. The Civil Air Patrol squadrons that have performed in the parades are Emerald City Composite Squadron out of
Wichita, KS and Cunningham Composite Squadron out of Cunningham. == Facilities and aircraft ==