Prefabricated buildings at the entrance to site NY-58. Photo: Don Bender, 2010.
Located in a wooded area, Nike Battery NY-58 guarded the southwestern approaches to the New York metropolitan area for more than a dozen years. This two magazine site was upgraded with the Improved Nike Hercules Missile System during 1961. Regular Army units manned the site until it was closed during 1968 as part of a major reorganization of the Army’s air defenses within the continental United States.
Location
Launcher Area:
Old Bridge, (Middlesex County), NJ
Control Area:
Old Bridge, (Middlesex County), NJ
Dates of Operation
1955-1968
Radar Types
ACQR, ABAR.
Missile Magazines
2 Type B magazines
Missiles
Nike Ajax / 20
Nike Hercules / 12
Units
A/526th (1955-1958)
A/4/71st (1958-1964)
A/3/51st (1964-1968)
Current Condition
The Old Bridge Board of Education presently operates the former launcher area on Jake Brown Road as a school bus maintenance facility. A few original buildings are still located on the site including the warheading building for the Hercules missiles. School buses are parked where the underground missile magazines were once located.
The nearby family housing area is mostly intact, although abandoned. At the end of Jake Brown Road, the site of the former Integrated Fire Control Area (practically obliterated) now serves as a convenient spot for local residents to fly radio-controlled model aircraft.
2025 UPDATE: The family housing area was demolished a few years ago although it appears that the pump house remains intact. Foundation remnants appear to remain in the former control area, although there is widespread development ongoing in this area. The Butler style buildings and former water treatment area near the site entrance are still intact.