Abandoned Missile Batteries Scattered Across PA
During the Cold War, the United States lived under the constant fear that the Soviet Union could bomb the country at any moment. Although the Civil War was the last to be fought on American soil, the attack on Pearl Harbor was still fresh in the minds of the American public. Because of WWII, Americans had more confidence that ever in the military to defend them against foreign attacks.
This is why everyone was perfectly fine with 256 missile launch sites being established in suburbs across America. These Nike Missile Batteries, which remained in operation until 1974, were first proposed in 1945 as Project Nike, named after the Greek goddess of victory. Bell Laboratories created the first missile, the Nike Ajax, in 1953 as a line-of-site anti-aircraft rocket. The Ajax were followed over the years the Nike Hercules and Nike Zeus.
In Pennsylvania, 24 missile sites were established in the suburbs surrounding Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the 1950s and 1960s. The sites were given a letter designation, PH for Philadelphia and PI for Pittsburgh, and a number relating to how close each site was to the major city it was supposed to be commanding. The first of these sites were established in 1955, and the last were decommissioned in 1974. Many of the sites were decommissioned in the 1960s due to Nike Ajax technology being surpassed by both new American and Soviet technology. Those that weren’t decommissioned were upgraded to fit Nike Hercules, and many are still under army ownership, being used for other military activities.
The missiles at the bases were stored in underground magazines and launched with hydraulic elevator systems, but could be seen above ground during test drills.
All of these Nike Missile Bases still exist in some capacity. Though the missiles are gone, the land and structures have found new uses over the years. Some are still military sites, some are owned by private owners, and some are operated by townships. The land sometimes gets reused as a nature area, such as the PH-97/99 launch site in Warrington, PA becoming Lower Nike Park, and the control site now being Twin Oaks Summer Camp.
The PH-49 control site in Mantua Township, New Jersey (still technically a PA site because of its proximity to Philadelphia) is now Bethel Church and Glouchester County Christian School.
The PH-07 launch site in Richboro, PA, is now the Northampton Township Recreation Center. There are bating cages on top of the missile magazines. Whatever works, right?
Other Nike Missile Batteries buildings are finding new uses or being overtaken by nature. There’s probably one near you!
