Civil Defense Museum
Nike Missile Base, Denton Texas

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Yeah. I know this isn't Civil Defense, but it's somewhat related. I mainly wanted to do a "Civil Defense Museum style" virtual tour of this old Nike site. I'm not that well informed on the Nike missile air defense sites so my comments are pretty much just about what I saw and the condition of the base. As of 2010 all the front buildings have been demolished at this site. I haven't been by there since early 2010 so I don't know the condition of the what remains of the base as of late 2010.

Early photos of the base added October 9, 2010. Photo source The University of North Texas Portal To Texas History site.
Click Photos To See Larger.
Nike Missile Base, Photograph, ca. 1964; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth12418 : accessed October 08, 2010), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library, Denton, Texas.
Nike Missile Base, Photograph, ca. 1964;
digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth12418 : accessed October 08, 2010),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu;
crediting Denton Public Library, Denton, Texas.
Aerial View of Nike Missile Base, Photograph, ca. 1964; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth15487 : accessed October 08, 2010), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library, Denton, Texas.
Aerial View of Nike Missile Base, Photograph, ca. 1964;
digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth15487 : accessed October 08, 2010),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu;
crediting Denton Public Library, Denton, Texas.

Click on any photo or thumbnail to see a larger version of the photo.
Hold mouse pointer over thumbnails for additional comments.
I would like to give a very big THANKS to UNT Risk Management and Environmental Services for taking me out to get the photos for this virtual tour.
South side of front of launcher site.
Front gate of launcher site
North side of front of launcher site.
The Denton Nike Site is located a few miles north of Denton on the west side of Locust (FM 2164). Here's what launcher site looks like from the road. The University of North Texas has kept the site in fairly good shape over the years. The school uses the front area as an observatory. The small white roofed buildings house telescopes. They even have a domed telescope on the site. You can see the dome in the right and left photos.

IFC Site South of Launcher Site Here's the other site of the Denton Base. I believe that this was what was called the IFC area. This site is about a mile south of the launcher site on Locust (FM 2164). I don't know who owns this now. Part of the building on the left burned out and isn't in very good shape now. I'm guessing but I believe the radar site was at the top of the hill at the end of the road on the right.

Front and Various Buildings
Front building at main gate of launcher site.
Small outbuilding behind main building at main gate
Water tank behind building at front gate
Rear of maintenance building
Small building that appears to have housed some type of telescope. The roof slide away on 2 trackes and the inside of the building is painted all black.
Sentry dog kennels
Here are various photos of some of the buildings at the front of the site. Upper left photo: building at the main gate. I assume that there must have been a guard shack at the gate but there's not one there now. Upper center photo: a couple of small buildings behind the main gate building. Upper right photo: water tank. Bottom left photo: a maintenance building? The building had large overhead doors on each end. The doors have since been filled with cinder blocks. Bottom center photo: a small building near the dog kennels. I think think this building might have been modified because the roof has been modified to roll to the side on tracks and the entire inside is painted black. I think the school might have had a telescope in this building at one time. Bottom right photo: sentry dog kennels.

Generator Building
Generator building
Inside of generator building
Rescue equipment board in generator building
Transformers at north side of generator building
Electrical panel in generator building
Some type of radar antenna stashed behind generator building
This building is located behind the maintenance building in the middle of the site. It housed large generators at one time and still has the electrical panels inside. These photos are pretty self explanatory. Bottom right photo: radar antenna laying on the ground behind generator building. There was a large fuel tank outside the building but it was removed.

Warhead Building/Fueling Area
South side of building.
Interesting ramp type area for truck unloading?
Inside of building. Notice heavy beam construction of roof.
Inside of building looking south.
Shot fo heavy winch track and structure of roof
Heavy-lift winch on track.
This building is very interesting. It has a large heavy lift winch, a heavily built roof structure to support the winch and large roll-up doors on each end. I figure that this is where the missiles were serviced. There is a large earth berm all around this building obviously to deflect a blast upwards. The building was full of some archeological items when we visited. My guide informed me that it was some forgotten project left there by the school. Upper left photo: south end of building. Upper center photo: fueling area. According to the San Fransisco Nike Volunteer web site the depressions in the concrete were used to angle the missle for filling and draining the fuel. Upper right photo: looking in south door towards the north end of building. Notice heavy beams making up roof structure. Lower left photo: looking from north end of building toward the south end. Lower center photo: winch track beams. Lower right photo: heavy lift winch.


View of southeast corner of magazine area. Taken from top of berm around arming/fueling building.Missile Launcher Area
This photo was taken from the top of the earth berm looking west over the missile magazine/launcher area. All the missile launchers and tracks were removed long ago. There is a double fence around this area. One fence is the main perimeter fence and the second fence is the fence seen in the foreground. Tower to the left in the photo is the school's radio station transmitter tower. There are three underground missile magazines. A, B and C magazine. Each magazine has a large hydraulic lift to raise the missile up to the surface. The missiles would then be manually pushed on tracks from the each left to the launchers on the surface. The launchers pointed to the right of the photo which is north.

Gate to magazine area at rear of launcher site.Launcher Area Gate
This is the gate into the magazine/launcher area. The guard shack is still in pretty good shape.

Various Surface Photos Of Magazine/Launcher Area
Double fence around launcher/magazine area.
Shot from top of entry hatch showing missle lift doors.
Missle lift elevator doors in closed position.
Missle lift elevator in up position. Air vent at left.
Missle lift elevator in up position.
South hatch and air ventilator anti-blast valve.
Missle blast deflector inset in concrete.
Some type of antenna?
Here are some photos of the surface of the magazine/launcher area. Upper left photo: double fence around launcher area. Upper center left: looking down at the center "B" magazine lift doors. Doors still have stripe pattern. Upper center right: photo of "B" magazine lift doors. Upper right photo: "C" magazine lift in the up position. "C" magazine air ventilator at left of photo. Lower left photo: Photo taken looking south. "C" magazine lift in up position. This lift appeared to be sagging a bit on the south end. Lower center left photo: one of two of "C" magazine's access/escape hatches and air ventilators. Lower center right photo: two launcher blast deflectors at the west end of the launcher area. You can see where the launchers bolted in place on each side of the deflector. Lower right photo: a radio antenna? There's one at each magazine.

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