Fairfax Nike Missile Site (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Fairfax Nike Missile Site
During the Cold War a ring of Nike anti-aircraft missile sites defended the nation’s capital, reminiscent of the perimeter of forts that protected it during the Civil War. Just east of here was located the launch control equipment for one of the three Nike complexes in Fairfax County. To the west stood the missiles, poised on above-ground launchers. The U.S. Army (1954–1959) and the Army National Guard (1959–1963) operated this battery. Built to oppose Soviet air attack, this complex and those in Great Falls and Lorton were three of thirteen Nike sites that surrounded Washington and Baltimore.

Erected 1994 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number E-98.)


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Site ID W-74:
According to "Rings of Supersonic Steel" by Mark L. Morgan and Mark A. Berhow, the Fairfax site was designated W-74. The facilities were apparently transferred over to Fairfax County and used for maintenance facilities. Based on the location descriptions (South of Popes Head Road) some of the structures may be in Popes Head Stream Valley Park.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Atlas Obscura website:

Fairfax Nike Missile Site
Fairfax, Virginia
A lone historical marker off the highway and scattered debris are all that remain of this Cold War-era missile site.

This unassuming site off of the Fairfax County Parkway was once a part of a chain of Nike missiles erected around the Washington D.C. area to protect the nation’s capital from a nuclear attack during the Cold War. The missile defense system was meant to be a symbol of the United States’ powerful militaristic capabilities of the time. Though the site was later decommissioned, the remains can still be found in the wooded areas of Pope’s Head Park.

Before the 1950s, the United States’ defense against aerial attacks mainly consisted of traditional antiaircraft guns. Then in 1951, with escalating tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union, coupled with the then-ongoing Korean War, the U.S. Army advocated for “surface-to-air missile” (SAM) defense systems to be implemented immediately around the country. By 1953, soldiers were being taught to operate these new missile systems, now named Nike after the Greek goddess of victory, and later dubbed NIKE-Ajax.

Finding land to place these sites was surprisingly simple in Fairfax County, though the army was ordered to use government-owned land when viable. The army would eventually disclose information of the new nationwide Nike program to the public in 1955, and would even encourage local residents to visit the different missile sites in their area.

When Dwight D. Eisenhower became president of the United States, he advocated for a “New Look” foreign policy, which essentially sought to strengthen the nation’s defense systems as efficiently and cost-effective as possible. This led to the decision to attach nuclear warheads to anti-aircraft missiles. These new missiles were called Nike-Hercules missiles and could go faster and further than their predecessors.

Though the Fairfax Nike Missile Site would never end up housing any of these Nike-Hercules missiles, the implementation of these new missiles led to a heightening of security at all Nike sites across the country. The new security measures would see the addition of guard houses, fences, intrusion alarms, and a four-man military police squad to each missile site. With this change, the public was openly discouraged from visiting the premises.

The high costs of building and operating these missile sites eventually led to many of them being transferred from the United States Army to the National Guard, including the Fairfax Nike Missile Site in 1959. The Virginia National Guard occupied the Fairfax Nike Missile Site until its subsequent closure in 1963.

Today, the former Nike missile site is utilized by the Fairfax County Police Department to house the police association building (located just to the east of the park, off of Revercomb Ct) and the police shooting range (located south of the park at the end of Revercomb Ct). The rest of the area was repurposed into athletic fields in what is now known as Pope’s Head Park just off of the Fairfax County Parkway. The missile site was bulldozed over, and the only proof of it ever existing is a historical marker off the Fairfax County Parkway that can only be read headed north, and the sizeable debris that was left behind in the heavily-wooded areas of Pope’s Head Park, just west of the athletic fields.

Know Before You Go
This map location is pinned to reflect the site of the historic marker. We've heard from community members that the missile site ruins themselves can be difficult to reach safely, especially due to the large police presence in the immediate vicinity. In the summer, the area is also often overgrown and access to the debris is difficult. Please exercise caution if you are in this area.


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Here follows a transcript from a Washington Post newspaper article, published Sunday, November 26, 2006:

Answer Man Fires Off A Bit of Cold War History
By John Kelly

W hen was the Nike missile base in Fairfax County on Popes Head Road demolished? Does anything from the Nike site remain there today?

-- Chris Barbuschak, Burke

Oh, for the days of the Cold War. Things were so much simpler then. We knew exactly who our enemies were: the godless Communists. We knew what they wanted to do: kill us. And we knew exactly how they wanted to do it: by dropping nuclear bombs on us from jets flying at 30,000 feet.

But we weren't going to let them! While civilians were taught to duck and cover, the Army ringed major cities with batteries of missiles named for Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.

Nike sites started becoming operational across the country in 1954. There were three sites in Fairfax County -- in Lorton, Fairfax and Great Falls -- and more than 20 in Maryland. The missiles were about 20 feet long and were kept underground, beneath metal doors that would swing open, allowing the missiles to rise up and be fired.

In 1958, some first-generation sites -- which had Nike-Ajax missiles -- were converted to the nuclear-tipped Ajax-Hercules model.

Nike sites consisted of two parts: an integrated fire control base, where the plane-tracking and missile-directing radar units were situated, and, about a mile away, the missiles themselves.

The Lorton site was a Nike showcase, frequently visited by politicians and foreign dignitaries. The Pentagon made no secret of where the missile battalions were, said Christopher Bright, a historian who grew up not far from the Lorton site.

"A great effort was made to acclimate the public [to the missiles] and to encourage soldiers to become involved in the community," Christopher said. They even held regular open houses.

The missiles were never launched, at least not on purpose. In 1955, a Nike at Fort Meade was accidentally fired during a practice session. The warhead didn't explode, but the missile did tear itself apart about a mile up, showering the Baltimore-Washington Parkway with debris. No civilians were injured, though a crewman who had been standing near the errant missile when it took off suffered minor burns.

As the nature of the Soviet threat changed -- intercontinental ballistic missiles became the concern -- the Nike sites were decommissioned, and the land was sold to local governments, most of whom bulldozed the buildings and built playgrounds: swords into soccer fields, so to speak.

There's a Nike Missile Park in Gaithersburg. The old fire control site in Davidsonville is now a family recreation center; its launch site is home to the Anne Arundel County police academy. Part of the Great Falls site is now used by a local astronomy group to explore the night sky. The Army left the Popes Head site in 1961. Fairfax County paid $108,700 for the land in 1984 and demolished the buildings soon after. Today, part of the site is a public works storage yard and part is a park. No traces remain of its former purpose.

Last month, the Fairfax County Park Authority started demolishing some of the buildings at the Lorton site. There are plans to leave one of the firing bays intact and display a missile there, part of a Cold War museum planned for the site by Francis Gary Powers Jr., son of the U-2 pilot shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.

The problem is, park officials can't find the stairs that lead to the subterranean bays. Everything was welded shut and covered with concrete.

Our threats come in different forms these days.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Clio Foundation website about the missile site as written by Genna Duplisea and Angelica Garcia:

Introduction:
As part of the US military's plan to defend Washington D.C from a possible attack during the Cold War, the federal government funded the creation of a ring of Nike anti-aircraft missile sites around the perimeter of the city. This state historical marker stands at the location of the launch control facility for three of the thirteen missile sites. The launch control facility was located just east of the sign on Fairfax County Parkway. In some ways, the missile defense system dates back to the construction of naval batteries, meant to destroy enemy ships in an era characterized by a different kind of threat.

Backstory and Context:
The success of the Manhattan Project, and subsequent decision to use the nuclear weapons on Japan, ushered in the age of nuclear warfare. Until 1949, the United States was the only country that had nuclear capability. In that year, the Soviet Union successfully detonated an atomic weapon, marking a new phase in the global Cold War. American officials thought a missile defense system could limit both conventional and nuclear attacks, and decided to create missile sites near high-risk targets.

The three Fairfax Nike Missile sites were controlled by military officials, operating in a once-secret location just east of this marker. These controls were manned by both the U.S. Army National Guard and the U.S Army. The prevailing theory during the Cold War was deterrence; the idea that countries should and could make the response of any nuclear attack on their nation so devastating that no foreign power would ever attack. Over time, both the US and Soviet Union possessed a nuclear arsenal so vast that it would be impossible for either nation to "win" a nuclear war with the other. Deterrence at this level was known as "Mutually Assured Destruction." Should Soviet bombers or other enemy aircraft approach the nation's capital, military officials hoped that they could simply shoot those aircraft down with Nike anti-aircraft missiles rather than test the limits of nuclear deterrence via mutual destruction.

The missile defense system such as the Fairfax Nike Missile sites were the last line of defense for the nation. The prevailing idea prior to this time assumed the United States was so far away from their rival powers that nobody could strike within the country itself. The new age of technology with missiles and planes changed this entire thinking. Russia could strike the United States, and the United States Air Force could do nothing to prevent this attack. This new threat required new defense systems, and this is exactly what the Fairfax Nike Missile sites were.

Nike sites, arranged in rings around vulnerable areas, typically consist of two sections: the Integrated Fire Control (IFC) area, and the Launcher Area. The former housed radar and computers, intended to track incoming aircraft and guide missiles, whereas the former served as the missile storage location. These sections were separated by about .5 to 3.5 miles.

This site is one of the remains of the 265 Nike missile bases that were deployed throughout the country. The text from the marker is reproduced below:

During the Cold War a ring of Nike anti-aircraft missile sites defended the nation's capital, reminiscent of the perimeter of forts that protected it during the Civil War. Just east of here was located the launch control equipment for one of the three Nike complexes in Fairfax County. To the west stood the missiles, poised on above-ground launchers. The U.S. Army (1954-1959) and the Army National Guard (1959-1963) operated this battery. Built to oppose Soviet air attack, this complex and those in Great Falls and Lorton were three of thirteen Nike sites that surrounded Washington and Baltimore.