Broken record time!

Not sure if I had written about it here before, but back when I was a kid (around 8 or so), I was sent to a week (or two?) long summer camp in the Marin Headlands located in the barracks of old Fort Cronkhite. The goal was to immerse kids in lessons on ecology and marine wildlife and get kids on board with various eco-values both legit and not. I really liked it, we did all sorts of hands on stuff and got to see a bunch of different animals.  Though, even as a kid, what was far more interesting to me was the location and it's history, which was almost completely ignored by the staff there at the time.

The old barracks I stayed at for the trip.

Fort Cronkhite was set up in the 1930s as the threat of war in the pacific became an increasing threat, and across the Rodeo Lagoon from the barracks, there was a large coastal artillery battery set up there to defend the critical San Francisco port. 

A 16in artillery emplacement of the time (1940s)

What the emplacement looks like now. This is a far more improved condition than when I got to see it as a kid. 

I got to climb all over the ruins of the gun emplacements when I was there, and was completely enthralled by the idea that there was this massive piece of World War II history that was just left dilapidated and completely ignored by everyone.  Back then, they were certainly describable as ruins, as they were falling apart and we weren't allowed inside. In hindsight, this is likely because they didn't want anyone to get hurt on the meth needles, as most of the coastal defense structures were popular druggie hangouts. 

Since my childhood, they have been subsequently been restored to a certain degree, as they certainly look a far sight better now. Still, I had no idea at that age that there was so much more to it while I was jumping around the concrete emplacements. 

I had no idea that at the crest of the hill above the artillery emplacements was the dilapidated remains of a subterranean Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules SAM site for ballistic missile defense called SF-87/88. Technically a part of Fort Barry, construction started on the SAM facilities in 1954 and were operational later that year. Security was paramount at these sites and people stationed there were not allowed to discuss their work with any outsider, as the missiles were often armed with nuclear warheads themselves. They were designed and anticipated to be used to intercept incoming Soviet bombers and ballistic missiles. The site was operational until 1974, and was decommissioned and lay dormant until sometime in the 80s when restoration began by a local military vehicle collectors club. 

The missile site when operational. You can see the same barracks I stayed at in the background.

It took more than a decade of restoration, thousands of dollars, plus untold hours of time by volunteers to get it to the point it is at today. Now it is an amazing replica of the the facility at the time it was operational (minus one or two structures) that is open to the public for tours on a regular basis and (if you are lucky enough) will occasionally have Army Nike site veterans to come to assist with tours. They will also on occasion raise the restored dummy missiles from their underground storage to launch position!   

The infamous bay area fog providing some excellent dramatic lighting for this shot. All photos sourced from Wikipedia. 

Despite the trash heap my old home state has become, I would still love to just visit certain places in (The Peoples Volksrepublic of) Kalifornia just for little while, especially this one, as I've never been able to go to the restored site yet. Any plan I have to go back to my home state, would definitely involve going there.

The missiles lowered into their protective underground shelter.