In a region speckled with a multitude of historical markers, just one lonesome sign - in Alburgh, Vermont - commemorates one of the sites. These stories, like the launch sites themselves, are not easy to find. An abandoned bunker beneath the Oyster-Adams school in Washington, DC, was once used as a fallout shelter. Decades later, some of these bunkers are now abandoned. Now, instead of weapons, they hold strange tales of accidental death, contamination and good, old-fashioned American ingenuity. During the Cold War, the US built underground shelters in case of an attack. They had a short shelf life, active only from the fall of 1962 until the spring of 1965 - but they left a lasting impression on the landscape. missile bases ever constructed east of the Mississippi River. These Atlas F launch sites were some of the country’s first underground silos, and they’re still the only U.S. Several workers died during the construction. Each site cost between $14 and $18 million to build, and could withstand a direct nuclear attack. The military was scrambling to counter the nuclear threat from the Soviet Union, and they spared no expense.

While their primary stated goal was to obtain a reasonable settlement for land and construction damages, the group also wanted to minimize the effects of the missile system upon nearby schools, roads, and the local police force.įollowing the construction of the missile field, the Minuteman Missile Area Landowners Association remained inactive until the early 1990s when the Air Force began the deactivation process of the Minuteman II ICBMs and a new generation of property owners worked together to disseminate information and provide support.In the 1960s, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed 12 intercontinental ballistic missile sites in a ring around the Air Force base in Plattsburgh - two in Vermont, 10 in New York. Been Here 139 Want to Visit 881 Giant Pyramid near Nekoma, North Dakota. Many landowners were concerned that the location of the proposed sites would disrupt irrigation systems, take irreplaceable land, or interfere with agricultural operations. The Pyramid of North Dakota Nekoma, North Dakota The remnants of an early American attempt at missile defense. Prior to signing any agreements, however, association members wanted the government to address the disadvantages of having a silo constructed within their property. The areas in black denote deactivated missile wings, the areas in red denote the active missile. Map showing the areas of the six Minuteman Missile wings on the central and northern Great Plains. Most landowners understood that the national defense program required the installation of Minuteman missiles, and the technical reasons why the Air Force required use of their land. Map showing the location of the Minuteman Missile Visitor Center, Launch Control Facility Delta-01 and Launch Facility (Missile Silo) Delta-09. But the echoes of Nike missile base history still reverberate loudly.

The Association disseminated information to area landowners, believing that working collectively would aid the defense effort while safeguarding their private interests. It may be silent now, in this isolated spot in the Everglades River of Grass. To ensure that the government took landowners’ rights into consideration during site selection and fairly compensated landowners, a group of farmers and ranchers formed the Minuteman Missile Area Landowners Association in the early 1960s. During the site-selection process, some landowners did not feel that the Air Force provided enough information to sign rights-of-entry to their property. Such large-scale construction was not without its inconveniences. The system would require the land acquisition for 150 silos, fifteen control centers, and approximately 1,732 miles of communications cables connecting the facilities. Prior to construction of the missile sites in South Dakota, right-of-entry, easements, and land purchase agreements needed to be made with hundreds of property owners. Minimally, the Air Force required these sites to be geographically separated by an area large enough to withstand a ten-megaton explosion at an adjacent facility. Four (1A, 1B, 1C and 2A) are located on the Former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range (FLBGR) east of Aurora.

The Air Force positioned each missile flight (one control center and ten silos) in the same geographic area, but individual silos could not be directly adjacent to another silo or control center.

Abandoned missile silo locations