The original airfield was established in 1920 as Hamilton Airport by local business owner and aviator, Thomas Hamilton. Milwaukee County purchased the land on October 19, 1926, for the Milwaukee County Airport. The first airport terminal there, the Hirschbuehl Farmhouse, opened in July 1927. That month, Northwest Airlines, Inc., began air service from Milwaukee to Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In August 1927, world-renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh visited the Milwaukee airport. Kohler Aviation Corporation began providing passenger service across Lake Michigan on August 31, 1929. During the late depression years (from 1938 to July 1940), a new two-story passenger terminal building was constructed by the Works Progress Administration. On March 17, 1941 the airport was renamed General Mitchell Field after Milwaukee’s military airpower advocate, Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell.

In January 4, 1945, Mitchell Field was leased to the U.S. War Department for use as a World War II prisoner-of-war camp. Over 3,000 prisoners and 250 enlisted men stayed at the work camp. Escaped German prisoners were often surprised to find a large German American population just beyond the fence.

On June 19, 1986 the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors renamed the airport General Mitchell International Airport.

In service since 1947, the 128th Air Refueling Wing of the Wisconsin Air National Guard has been located on the East Ramp. From the 1950s until 2008, Mitchell International’s South Ramp was home to the 440th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve. The 440th flew Lockheed C-130s and was deployed on strategic missions around the world, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and relief missions during national emergencies and natural disasters. In 2008, the base was closed as part of the federal Base Realignment and Closure Act which transfered assets to Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. Today, in its place is Milwaukee County’s MKE Regional Business Park.

https://www.mitchellairport.com/airport-information/history

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/General_Mitchell_International_Airport#History