The Riverside Hangar is a historic

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

complex at the St. Paul Downtown Airport in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, United States. It comprises two parallel hangars with a connecting structure and some additions. Built on the bank of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

in 1942, it was part of a

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

modification center that operated at the airport during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The two hangar buildings were constructed with glued laminated timber arches, an innovation born of wartime steel shortages. Half the arches were manufactured in Peshtigo, WI by Unit Structures, Inc. and half by Rilco Laminated Products, Inc. at Albert Lea, MN. Their important design features were their low cost and that they were erectable quickly by unskilled workers. With Riverside Hangar was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

for its state-level significance in the theme of engineering. It was nominated for being one of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

's leading examples of glued laminated timber construction.

Description

The two parallel hangars are both long, wide, and high. They are apart, with a wooden structure between them. Riverside Hangars from west

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota 1942 establishments in Minnesota Aircraft hangars in the United States Aircraft hangars on the National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Saint Paul, Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Saint Paul, Minnesota Transport infrastructure completed in 1942 Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota United States home front during World War II World War II on the National Register of Historic Places

Description

See also

References