De Soto Airport

The specific reason for closure is not officially documented. However, it was a small, privately-owned grass airstrip. Closures of such airfields are typically due to economic factors, the owner's retirement or death, the sale of the land for more profitable use (like agriculture or development), or rising property taxes. Given that the land was immediately converted back to farmland, an economic or personal decision by the owner is the most probable cause.

The site of the former airport has been fully reclaimed for agricultural use. Current satellite imagery shows the land is actively cultivated with row crops. While no runway or aviation infrastructure remains, a faint, discolored outline of the former northwest/southeast runway is still visible in the fields due to decades of soil compaction. The buildings at the northwest end of the former runway appear to be a private residence and associated farm structures.

De Soto Airport was a small, privately-owned general aviation airfield that primarily served local pilots during the 1960s. According to the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory, its operator was Robert Daulton. The facility consisted of a single unpaved sod runway, approximately 2,400 feet long, oriented northwest/southeast (Runway 13/31). It catered to light, single-engine aircraft and represented a typical example of the numerous small, rural airfields that dotted the American landscape in the post-WWII era, providing essential access for private and agricultural aviation before many were closed due to economic pressures and land consolidation.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the De Soto Airport. The property is privately owned, has been actively farmed for over 50 years, and lacks any remaining aviation infrastructure. The land's value for agriculture makes a conversion back to an airport economically unfeasible and highly unlikely.