Nike Missile Base SL-40 Hecker, Illinois - Photos
Constructed during the Cold War, Nike missile bases were an ever-present reminder to U.S. citizens that the peace gained after World War II was fragile. Following the war, the U.S. Army constructed Nike air defense systems around forty U.S. cities and military installations as protection against air attack by the Soviet Union. At its peak in 1963, the Nike defense system included approximately three hundred batteries in the U.S. All of the based have been deactivated and many destroyed. Base SL-40 was one of five Nike installations that comprised the St. Louis (SL) Air Defense System, which was activated in June 1959 and deactivated in January 1969. four bases, including SL-40, served as batteries. The fifth base, Scott Air Force Base, served solely as the system headquarters. Although the missile equipment has been removed, Nike Missile Base SL-40 is one of the few remaining Nike batteries that exists almost in its entirety, and has been preserved through its use as a vocational school. Nike Missile Base SL-40's farmland surroundings have also changed little since the battery's construction in the late 1950s, and the base typifies the isolation and unobtrusive low-scale construction of most Nike missile installations.
OVERALL VIEW OF ENTRANCE TO BATTERY CONTROL AREA, LOOKING WEST
PHOTOCOPY, BARRACKS, MESS HALL, AND ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
PHOTOCOPY, BUILDING AND ROAD LAYOUT PLANS FOR BATTERY CONTROL AREA
ENTRANCE TO LAUNCH CONTROL AREA, LOOKING SOUTH
PHOTOCOPY, ENTRANCE AND READY BUILDING OF LAUNCH AREA
PHOTOCOPY, WATER TREATMENT PUMPING AND STORAGE BUILDING, MISSILE TEST AND ASSEMBLY BUILDING, GENERATOR BUILDING No. 3, AND WARHEADING BUILDING OF LAUNCH AREA
PHOTOCOPY, BUILDING AND ROAD LAYOUT PLANS FOR LAUNCH AREA
PHOTOCOPY, GRADING PLAN DRAWING OF LAUNCH AREA
WATER TREATMENT PLANT, LOOKING NORTHWEST
WATER TREATMENT PLANT TOWER, LOOKING SOUTHWEST
WATER TREATMENT PLANT AND TOWER, LOOKING EAST
This sentry guardhouse was used to control access to Nike Missile Base SL-40. This building was built in 1958 from standardized drawings approved by the Corps of Engineers.
SENTRY GUARDHOUSE, LOOKING SOUTH
Photos - Site Layout & Water Treatment
Photos - Underground Storage Magazines
Photos - Mess Hall, Basketball Court, & Radar Pad
Photos - Sentry Control, Kennel, Bulletin Board, Acid Storage
Photos - Missile Test & Assembly and Warheading Buildings
Photos - Barracks
Photos - HIPAR Equipment Building, Storage Sheds
Photos - Generator Buildings
Photos - Ready Building
Photos - Administration Building
Information about this Nike Site