St Paul's Holman Field was constructed in 1926 to provide the city with air service and to facilitate the US Post Office's contract airmail delivery. This airway beacon, one of others like it, defined the airway corridor, usually 10 miles wide, that pilots used as their route between Chicago and St Paul. Airway beacons flash white-white instead of the standard white-green used for standard airport beacons. Designed by the City of St Paul's Bureau of Bridges, the beacon and tower were built in 1929 by the St Paul Structural Steel Company. It survives virtually unchanged since its construction and was refurbished to its original black and chrome-yellow color scheme in 1995. Its 24 inch diameter rotating beacon atop the 110 foot tower is a rare survivor of the 1920s and 30s era of aviation.
