When the Army first announced its intentions to construct a Nike missile site within the unspoiled woods of Union County’s Watchung Reservation, both county officials and local residents protested strongly. In spite of this initial opposition, the missile base was eventually completed. However, concerns about the site delayed its completion until 1958.
Ironically, deactivation of the site was begun less than four years later. During the autumn of 1962, the underground cables connecting the control and launcher areas were severed only days before the Cuban “missile crisis” brought the superpowers dangerously close to a nuclear confrontation.
Location
Launcher Area: Watchung Reservation, Mountainside, (Union County), NJ
Control Area: Berkeley Heights, (Union County), NJ
Dates of Operation
1958-1963
Radar Types
LOPAR
Missile Magazines
3 Magazines.
1 type “B” and 2 type “C”.
Missiles
30 Nike Ajax
Units
Army –
A/483rd (1958)
A/2/65th (1958-1959)
National Guard –
HHB/1/254th (1959-1963)
B/1/254th (1959-1963)
Current Condition
The new Watchung Stables were constructed atop the former launcher area on Summit Lane. Hardly a trace of this site remains today. Only a few foundation remnants and portions of the original barbed wire-topped fences remain at the control area, adjacent to Governor Livingston Regional High School in Berkeley Heights. The Army’s original access road leading up to this site from Glenside Avenue (closed to vehicular traffic) is now used only by local runners and bicyclists few of whom are aware of its Cold War origins.