John H. Batten Airport
airport in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States of America
John H. Batten Airport (IATA: RAC, ICAO: KRAC, FAA LID: RAC), also known as Batten International Airport, is a public use airport located 2 miles (3 km; 2 nmi) northwest of the central business district of Racine, a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is privately owned by the Racine Commercial Airport Corporation. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2025–2029, in which it is categorized as a regional reliever airport facility.
History
The airport was founded in 1941 by Carlyle Godske on roughly 160 acres (65 ha) of land purchased from local businessman J.A. Horlick. For most of its history, the airport was known as Racine-Horlick Field, but on September 5, 1989, the name was changed to John H. Batten Field. Batten was one of the airport's early founders and supporters as well as the longtime CEO of Racine's Twin Disc, Inc.
During World War II (ca 1941-1945), the newly established airport was used as a flight and ground school for the Army. Students were housed at Racine College on the south side of Racine. Ground school instruction was given at Horlick High School and the actual flight training took place at the airport. Today, the airport is used primarily by local aviation enthusiasts and by the corporate jets of large local companies such as S.C. Johnson & Son and Twin Disc, Inc.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “John H. Batten Airport” is airport in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States of America. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through John, Batten and Airport, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “airport in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States of America” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2901510. Authority coordinates are 42.761, -87.815. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2025, 2029, 1941 and 1989.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “John H. Batten Airport”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow John H. Batten Airport primary sources, John H. Batten Airport archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “John H. Batten Airport”?
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- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “John H. Batten Airport” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.