than I planned .. Was out photographing areas near where I live. Had taken a photo of a water tower, but wasn't sure of the area it once belonged to.
This place, with the 'No Trespassing' sign - that once was owned by the U.S. Army .. I just always thought it was a Western Electric plant .. along with Bell Laboratories. Government never entered my thoughts.
My Dad used to work at another location; knew some things were 'Top Secret', but had no idea the extent~
Dad worked as a Plant Engineer - he designed buildings ... the most important thing I remember as a kid was he and his boss would take trips out to White Sands.
Guess they needed a new building ... didn't add it up back then that he was helping design buildings to test missiles.
The Western Electric plant ( here ), 20+ buildings built radar and guidance systems for missiles. Read someplace it was called "70 years of secrets".
This is rambling, I know, but am trying to piece together what I have read and what I remember from many years ago.
Do know that in 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this plant was active.
By then, I was living in Florida -- yeah, 90 miles of water between Florida and Cuba.
I always thought we were so safe --- then, recently found out just how close things were to falling apart. No wonder our parents called to see if we were allright !
Only found out when my Dad passed, that he was one of the Engineers who who worked on the DEW Line ... Distant Early Warning ... so North America would be safe. The US and Canada went in together to form NORAD -
Mom said even she didn't know what work Dad did... except he worked at Western Electric.
In the overhead shot of the link above, I can find the house we lived in for 17yrs~
Amazing stuff you can find out -- sometimes scary, too.
It is what it is and life goes on.
( The Nike system was part of the joint American-Canadian North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) and the U.S. Continental Air Defense Command (NORAD). Within NORAD, the Canadian and American air forces were responsible for detecting, identifying (as friend or foe). and destroying or turning back targets. The detection phase began with the identification of intruders through the Distant early warning radar system, commonly known as the DEW Line. The DEW Line, designed to give warning of hostile aircraft approaching from the north, consisted of a net of radar stations near the 69 north parallel that initially extended from northwestern Alaska to northeastern Canada. )
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Peggy C said:
This place, with the 'No Trespassing' sign - that once was owned by the U.S. Army .. I just always thought it was a Western Electric plant .. along with Bell Laboratories. Government never entered my thoughts.
My Dad used to work at another location; knew some things were 'Top Secret', but had no idea the extent~
Dad worked as a Plant Engineer - he designed buildings ... the most important thing I remember as a kid was he and his boss would take trips out to White Sands.
Guess they needed a new building ... didn't add it up back then that he was helping design buildings to test missiles.
The Western Electric plant ( here ), 20+ buildings built radar and guidance systems for missiles. Read someplace it was called "70 years of secrets".
This is rambling, I know, but am trying to piece together what I have read and what I remember from many years ago.
Do know that in 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this plant was active.
By then, I was living in Florida -- yeah, 90 miles of water between Florida and Cuba.
I always thought we were so safe --- then, recently found out just how close things were to falling apart. No wonder our parents called to see if we were allright !
Only found out when my Dad passed, that he was one of the Engineers who who worked on the DEW Line ... Distant Early Warning ... so North America would be safe. The US and Canada went in together to form NORAD -
Mom said even she didn't know what work Dad did... except he worked at Western Electric.
wikimapia.org/21021436/Site-of-Former-Nike-Missile-Plant
In the overhead shot of the link above, I can find the house we lived in for 17yrs~
Amazing stuff you can find out -- sometimes scary, too.
It is what it is and life goes on.
( The Nike system was part of the joint American-Canadian North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) and the U.S. Continental Air Defense Command (NORAD). Within NORAD, the Canadian and American air forces were responsible for detecting, identifying (as friend or foe). and destroying or turning back targets. The detection phase began with the identification of intruders through the Distant early warning radar system, commonly known as the DEW Line. The DEW Line, designed to give warning of hostile aircraft approaching from the north, consisted of a net of radar stations near the 69 north parallel that initially extended from northwestern Alaska to northeastern Canada. )