Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Old Bridge Nike Missile Silo

During the summer, me and Nicky visited one of NJ many relics of the Cold War: The Nike Missile silo down in Old Bridge.

Built in 1955 at beginning of the paranoid notions that the Soviet Union would use aircraft to drop a atomic weapon on New York City. This particular base was supposed to guard the southern approach to the Big Apple, and stood a silent watch until it was decommissioned in 1968.

Conflicting accounts say that the houses at the western end of Jake Brown Road –right before the pine forest- were abandoned shortly after the base was. However inspections of the HVAC systems on the inside of the trashed and razed houses defiantly don’t look like they’re 40 years old. If anything, the houses which have an identical layout and floor plan, with stuff on the inside probably no more than twenty to thirty years old.

The mile-long stretch of overgrown asphalt through the woods leading to the defunct command-control area is closed off by a rusted gate and a stop sign riddled with bullet holes.

Down the stretch, there was a large open area with small concrete structures and building foundations, and a steel trailer, all riddled with more bullet holes than someone who angered the NYPD.

Follow another sandy road and you get to yet another clearing; this one filled with… nothing. As a matter of fact, all the area around there consists of freshly laid sand and dirt roads with manhole covers. It looks like there the town is looking to redevelop the area.

By this time, it already being our second trip after spending a day at the beach, darkness was falling fast and we opted to get out of there.
Then it started to rain.

Soaked to the bone, we dried off in the Avenger and headed back to Manasquan.
Later we learned that the missile ‘magazine’ and launch tube are buried under the school-bus depot at the more populated end of Jake Brown Road, and the only time to see it is when all the buses are out doing their job.






























One thing I noticed was that with all the bullet holes in the stuff around there, where was all the shell casings? I found a single spent 12 gauge shotgun shell, with with the literally thousands of entry and exit holes in everything metal, who seriously shoots off all that ammo into stuff and then picks up their brass?

-AK

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Old Bridge. As a matter of fact we, used to have soccer games as a kid on this road. I can gurantee that until at least 1981 people lived over there - Military families. They attended school with me. I can't say that I remember any of their names. This coincides with the HVAC units you found.

Ken said...

I use to hunt and ride dirt bikes one the old "Nikie" site as we called it, I remember the location very well, we invaded it write after the military left, I can remember climbing down a deep steal shaft at the back launch site, it was a control room, etc, we use to camp out there along with party there, spent lots of time sight seeing during my teen yrs.

Charmell said...

I lived back on Jake Brown Rd from 1980 to 82. We went to Schirra School. As you stated,that was military housing. My dad was an Army recruiter in downtown New Brunswick at the time. One of our neighbors ran the AF ROTC at Rutgers NB. There were 12 homes built in a horseshoe arrangement with 8 on the outer edge and 4 in the center and a playground in the middle of the inner 4. I'm not sure when the community was finally abandoned. Probably by 1990.