I was stationed on a Nike Missile site from 1964-1966. After schooling in Ft. Bliss, TX I was assigned to NY-56 on Sandy Hook, NJ Ft. Hancock. I was a Fire Control Maintenance Mechanic responsible for the radars and computers. The designation was C2-IFC ( the site was a dual site) . I would enjoy keeping in touch . SP5 John McKenna
Very interesting john and thank you for sharing where you were assigned and what you did. Love to know more about the roles people played while based at the many locations!
@@prosperity4444 Missiles were stored horizontally not vertically. So, when the missiles were raised they were then raised to a vertical position. When decommissioned, all equipment was removed before the space was filled in. Nothing of any value or usable was left behind.
@An idiot explains everything @John McKenna Yes, John you are correct. As seen in the video missiles are horizontal and rise before launched. Once everything was decommissioned and removed it was filled in with Earth or demolished and removed. Now a bunch of condos are there and the area is unrecognizable. The only thing that if left is what was seen in the video, unless there is a hidden area I missed which I doubt for there so much has been built since.
I was stationed on Nike Ajax and Herc sites in NJ and NE as an ABAR radar tech 1960/66. Many of these videos have comments that are not correct, too many examples to post. One example is missiles were stored in under ground magazines not silos. Exception, they were stored above ground on a few sites. Crete NE is an example. Missiles were raised to 85 degrees, not full vertical. Various radar configurations not 2. No tunnels. It's been so long ago I've even forgot many. I'm 80 yrs old now so........
Age is no factor as you seem to still remember a lot. It was difficult finding any information for this particular site and only saw one blog of photos of it being abandoned. Still little info was provided. I do appreciate your input and corrections that I may have misgiven. Thank you sir for your updates on the missiles! Peace!
Thanks Jay, it's been a while since I uploaded a video due to lack of free time. I had to act a little quirky during that winning shot, couldn't resist! Glad you enjoyed.
Ah, you know of this street... I just followed one of the overgrown driveways and saw the jungle gym peeking out in the background. It was pretty far back and I could have missed it easily if I just stayed on the street. I'm sorry there wasn't more to find as everything was gone.
I will tell you a secret. If you take your metal detector to explore these old sites you might find some valuable copper buried in the ground. The high voltage power supplies of these systems required very good grounding.
There are no silos on Nike bases. Air Force used silos for ICBMs. Nike sites used underground magazines where the Nike missiles were kept horizontal not vertical like ICBMs in silos. Several Nike sites stored missiles above ground.
When I was growing up we lived below the Nike base in Livingston,NJ. I even went to a day camp in the woods in front of the Nike base. The base was surrounded by wired fencing. Now there are houses built where the base was. I always wondered if they removed the nukes or buried them and if the radiation got into our water!
I'm certain the missiles were removed and deactivated and the silos are probably still there that are just filled in. The hazards of working at a Nike Missile Site. were Electric shocks, Radiation exposure and high pressure hydraulic lines that continually burst. As a certain level of radiation most likely still exists, I'm sure it's at an extreme low level or they would not be able to utilize the land for housing. I can only imagine how the fencing looked equipped with overloaded barbed-wire and Restricted Area signage plastered everywhere. Thanks for sharing!
Was this street hornung ct? I used to live there as a little girl. I always wanted to go back over there but I heard all the houses are gone. Very sad.
As a matter of fact it is Hornung Ct. Sadly what you see in the video is all that's left. Where the silos were are covered by condos. I've done extensive searching online how the street looked back in the day to no avail. I believe they were all one floor homes, but you would know better being you lived there. The playground must have brought back memories. Would love to know more about the street if you are willing to share and see what it looked liked way back when. Peace to you!
@@forsakenlydeparted8616 I am so happy to hear back. I showed the video to my mom and she told me we used to live very close to thr circle. She said we lived there 1984-1986. I was only about 3 years old. My Mom said that she never seen the playground or basketball hoop. They must have been added after we left?? She told there was area that was posted not to go in so I'm guessing it was what was whatever left of the nike missile area. I remember going there and I was older 1992 and most of the houses were abandoned but some still lived there. I always wanted to go back there. I went back over there in 2010 but there was a sign stating no trespassing so we left. I really want to go over and look at it. I'm trying to find things from my childhood.
@@BrushingOnBeautypage Thank you for sharing this! It's nice to get feedback from someone whom actually lived there. There were two signs at the entryway of Hornung Ct. that said: "No Trespassing Authorized Vehicles Only Beyond This Point." I noticed people walking briskly for fitness and walking dogs. I think the road was heavily walked by these people. Obviously no one payed attention to the signs... I asked a couple who were walking about the road and they gave me very little history for they were Out-of-Towners that now live in the condos. There's a sign raised from the Historical Society that describes much of what I talk about in the video. The NY-80L is considered a Historical Site. It would be nice if they used the road to create a museum with a replica Nike Missile Base so future generations can learn how Nike Missiles Bases operated and what their purpose was during the Cold War. Of course this would take a bit of funding!
Yeah I didn't know Hornung Ct existed. I am a young guy and I went on historicaerials.com to see old maps of NJ (basically the same thing as Google Maps) and I noticed that Hornung Ct used to have houses and it was nothing before it even existed, but all of the sudden the houses are gone. Does anyone know what happened to the houses on there?
@@lotanto6154 It's only a guess but I'm thinking the houses were so far beyond repair and visited by local teens to party and explore that they became a serious safety hazard. They were simply torn down and discarded,
I was stationed on a Nike Missile site from 1964-1966. After schooling in Ft. Bliss, TX I was assigned to NY-56 on Sandy Hook, NJ Ft. Hancock. I was a Fire Control Maintenance Mechanic responsible for the radars and computers. The designation was C2-IFC ( the site was a dual site) . I would enjoy keeping in touch .
SP5 John McKenna
Very interesting john and thank you for sharing where you were assigned and what you did. Love to know more about the roles people played while based at the many locations!
So when they cover up the silo site are all those offices and everything still down there or do they completely bury them??
@@prosperity4444 Missiles were stored horizontally not vertically. So, when the missiles were raised they were then raised to a vertical position. When decommissioned, all equipment was removed before the space was filled in. Nothing of any value or usable was left behind.
@An idiot explains everything @John McKenna Yes, John you are correct. As seen in the video missiles are horizontal and rise before launched. Once everything was decommissioned and removed it was filled in with Earth or demolished and removed. Now a bunch of condos are there and the area is unrecognizable. The only thing that if left is what was seen in the video, unless there is a hidden area I missed which I doubt for there so much has been built since.
I was stationed on Nike Ajax and Herc sites in NJ and NE as an ABAR radar tech 1960/66. Many of these videos have comments that are not correct, too many examples to post. One example is missiles were stored in under ground magazines not silos. Exception, they were stored above ground on a few sites. Crete NE is an example. Missiles were raised to 85 degrees, not full vertical. Various radar configurations not 2. No tunnels. It's been so long ago I've even forgot many. I'm 80 yrs old now so........
Age is no factor as you seem to still remember a lot. It was difficult finding any information for this particular site and only saw one blog of photos of it being abandoned. Still little info was provided. I do appreciate your input and corrections that I may have misgiven. Thank you sir for your updates on the missiles! Peace!
@@forsakenlydeparted8616 Ed Thelen has a web site full of Nike information. Worth a visit.
@@elchuckozeke5771 Thanks for this, I will definitely pay a visit!
I was the FUIF repairman at Chicago and Milwaukee from 1965-1967 and then in 1967 was transferred to Belleville Illinois just outside of St. Louis
My father was on a Nike base out on long Island NY waiting river ny-25 lots of history
I'm sure your father had some interesting tales to tell. Do you remember any of them?
Was the base where the school/library is now? I live in the area but not in the district.
Pretty cool place, always enjoy anything that war related history. Awesome vintage footage, oh and nice job hitting the game winning shot hahaha
Thanks Jay, it's been a while since I uploaded a video due to lack of free time. I had to act a little quirky during that winning shot, couldn't resist! Glad you enjoyed.
So glad you found the playground! I was waiting for it....
Ah, you know of this street... I just followed one of the overgrown driveways and saw the jungle gym peeking out in the background. It was pretty far back and I could have missed it easily if I just stayed on the street. I'm sorry there wasn't more to find as everything was gone.
The hours on duty at these missile sites were long. in 1978 we calculated our hourly wage to be about $1.17 per hour.
You’re welcome.
🇺🇸
I will tell you a secret. If you take your metal detector to explore these old sites you might find some valuable copper buried in the ground. The high voltage power supplies of these systems required very good grounding.
I own a Nike base. 3silos an a fallout shelter. 16 acres. Lots of buildings.
Oh, very nice! Is you base Private or Public?
@@forsakenlydeparted8616 it's private I do give tours tho.
@@jeffhawk1318 Very cool!
There are no silos on Nike bases. Air Force used silos for ICBMs. Nike sites used underground magazines where the Nike missiles were kept horizontal not vertical like ICBMs in silos. Several Nike sites stored missiles above ground.
When I was growing up we lived below the Nike base in Livingston,NJ. I even went to a day camp in the woods in front of the Nike base. The base was surrounded by wired fencing. Now there are houses built where the base was. I always wondered if they removed the nukes or buried them and if the radiation got into our water!
I'm certain the missiles were removed and deactivated and the silos are probably still there that are just filled in. The hazards of working at a Nike Missile Site. were Electric shocks, Radiation exposure and high pressure hydraulic lines that continually burst. As a certain level of radiation most likely still exists, I'm sure it's at an extreme low level or they would not be able to utilize the land for housing. I can only imagine how the fencing looked equipped with overloaded barbed-wire and Restricted Area signage plastered everywhere. Thanks for sharing!
Ye, no, no.
It's what under your feet that's most interesting.
Always!
@@forsakenlydeparted8616 That is off Nike Dr in East Hanover
@@jackgarry1134 You are correct JacK!
Was this street hornung ct? I used to live there as a little girl. I always wanted to go back over there but I heard all the houses are gone. Very sad.
As a matter of fact it is Hornung Ct. Sadly what you see in the video is all that's left. Where the silos were are covered by condos. I've done extensive searching online how the street looked back in the day to no avail. I believe they were all one floor homes, but you would know better being you lived there. The playground must have brought back memories. Would love to know more about the street if you are willing to share and see what it looked liked way back when. Peace to you!
@@forsakenlydeparted8616 I am so happy to hear back. I showed the video to my mom and she told me we used to live very close to thr circle. She said we lived there 1984-1986. I was only about 3 years old. My Mom said that she never seen the playground or basketball hoop. They must have been added after we left?? She told there was area that was posted not to go in so I'm guessing it was what was whatever left of the nike missile area. I remember going there and I was older 1992 and most of the houses were abandoned but some still lived there. I always wanted to go back there. I went back over there in 2010 but there was a sign stating no trespassing so we left. I really want to go over and look at it. I'm trying to find things from my childhood.
@@BrushingOnBeautypage Thank you for sharing this! It's nice to get feedback from someone whom actually lived there.
There were two signs at the entryway of Hornung Ct. that said: "No Trespassing Authorized Vehicles Only Beyond This Point." I noticed people walking briskly for fitness and walking dogs. I think the road was heavily walked by these people. Obviously no one payed attention to the signs... I asked a couple who were walking about the road and they gave me very little history for they were Out-of-Towners that now live in the condos. There's a sign raised from the Historical Society that describes much of what I talk about in the video. The NY-80L is considered a Historical Site. It would be nice if they used the road to create a museum with a replica Nike Missile Base so future generations can learn how Nike Missiles Bases operated and what their purpose was during the Cold War. Of course this would take a bit of funding!
Yeah I didn't know Hornung Ct existed. I am a young guy and I went on historicaerials.com to see old maps of NJ (basically the same thing as Google Maps) and I noticed that Hornung Ct used to have houses and it was nothing before it even existed, but all of the sudden the houses are gone. Does anyone know what happened to the houses on there?
@@lotanto6154 It's only a guess but I'm thinking the houses were so far beyond repair and visited by local teens to party and explore that they became a serious safety hazard. They were simply torn down and discarded,