[2] The airport was founded in 1941 by Carlyle Godske on roughly 160 acres (65 ha) of land purchased from local businessman J.A.

Batten was one of the airport's early founders and supporters as well as the longtime CEO of Racine's Twin Disc, Inc.[3] During World War II (ca 1941-1945), the newly established airport was used as a flight and ground school for the Army.

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.[3] On July 30, 2010, plans were announced to have a full-time aviation maintenance firm on the field, planned to have opened on September 1, 2010.

[4] John H. Batten Airport covers an area of 411 acres (166 ha), including two paved runways:[1] For the 12-month period ending June 15, 2021, the airport had 47,000 aircraft operations, an average of 129 per day: 96% general aviation and 4% air taxi.

In August 2024, there were 91 aircraft based at this airport: 75 single-engine, 8 multi-engine, 5 jet, 2 helicopter and 1 ultra-light.