 A United States Air Force radar, surveillance, and weather station and aircraft refueling station, including a 10,000 ft (3 km) long runway, opened on Shemya in 1943 and is still in operation.The station, originally Shemya Air Force Base or Shemya Station, had 1,500 workers at its peak in the 1960s.In 1956, Northwest Airlines leased Shemya Island from the U.S. government to use as a refueling station on their North Pacific route.