Armed with supersonic, radar-guided missiles, the bases served as a last line of defense created to shoot down Soviet bombers armed with nuclear bombs before they reached their intended targets. The mission of Nike within the continental U.S was to act as a “last ditch” line of air defense for selected areas. The main advantage over conventional anti-aircraft artillery was that the Nike missile could be continuously guided to intercept an attacking aircraft in spite of any evasive maneuvers taken by the pilot. “Named for the mythical Greek goddess of victory, the Nike program begun during the last months of the Second World War. Weird NJ Cold War Correspondent Donald Bender explains the history of the Nike program this way:

Part of the Essex County Parks Department, the old barracks and command center have been leased to local artists and crafts people to be used as studio space. Though most have been abandoned or redeveloped, one base in Livingston, has been preserved and opened to the public as Riker Hill Park. While in operation these government installations were heavily guarded and completely off limits to the public. There were also several bases located in southern New Jersey in the towns of Marlton, Pittman, Lumberton, Swedesboro, and Berlin-Clementon, whose job it was to protect Philadelphia from attack.įor many years these weapons stood ever vigilant, on their launch pads, or in underground missile magazines, sometimes just yards away from unsuspecting residential neighborhoods. The missiles, some with nuclear warheads, would be guided by radar, and were designed to intercept and destroy incoming Soviet air squadrons bound for the Big Apple. Plainfield, Livingston, East Hanover, Wayne, and Mahwah, formed a semi-circular arc around New York City that continued, with other bases into upstate New York. The bases, which were located in Middletown, Old Bridge, S. were at their peak, Nike Missile Bases dotted the Garden State landscape. During the 1960s and 70s, when tensions between the U.S. It might surprise a lot of New Jersey residents today to know that during the Cold War many of our sleepy suburban communities played a crucial strategic role in America’s last line of defense. Nuclear Jersey: Nike Missile Bases and the Cold War Fought Right in Your Own Backyard

Abandoned missile silo in pa