Holman Field Administration Building

The Holman Field Administration Building is a Kasota limestone building designed by Clarence Wigington and built in 1939 by WPA employees. It serves as the control building for the St. Paul Downtown Airport in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The airport was named for Charles W. Holman, who won the U.S. air speed trials in 1930. The airfield was built on the former site of Lamprey Lake, which was filled with dredged material from the adjacent Mississippi River, which regularly floods the airport. Across the river in Indian Mounds Park is one of the last remaining airway beacons in the country.[2][3][4]

Holman Field Administration Building
The Holman Field Administration Building from the south
Holman Field Administration Building is located in Minnesota
Holman Field Administration Building
Holman Field Administration Building is located in the United States
Holman Field Administration Building
Location644 Bayfield Street
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Coordinates44°56′31″N 93°3′53″W
Built1939
ArchitectClarence Wigington
Architectural styleModerne
NRHP reference No.91001004[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 15, 1991

During World War II, Northwest Airlines employed up to 5000 people at the site, modifying new B-24 Liberator bombers, some of which received the highly classified H2X radar, which proved to be an invaluable tool in the European theater.[5]

A restaurant in the building is open to the general public, and allows viewing of the airfield.[6]

The building's streetside façade

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. Lee, Steve (2002-05-18). "Holman Field". Mississippi River Field Guide. Friends of the Mississippi River. Archived from the original on 2007-10-20. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  3. Helms, Marisa (2006-04-05). "Airport flood project stirs the waters in St. Paul". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  4. Nord, Mary Ann (2003). The National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 0-87351-448-3.
  5. Kenney, Dave (2004). Minnesota Goes to War - The Home front During World War II. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780873516518. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  6. "St Paul Restaurant".
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