Last Line of Defense: Nike Missile Sites in Illinois

Carlson, Christina; Lyon, Robert

In 1991, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which overview the construction of the Nation's Nike Missile bases, asked the National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Regional Office, to prepare Historic American Engineering Records (HAER) of two Nike antiaircraft missle sites in the state of Illinois. Although the missile and radar equipment had long since been removed from these bases, the Corps of in consultation with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency - recognized that these military installations represented a significant chapter in the history of the Cold War. Nike Missile Base C-84 near the Chicago suburb of Barrington, Illinois, was one of 23 installations that comprised the Chicago (IL) and Gary (IN) air defense system. Nike Missile Base SL-40, near the farming community of Hecker in southern Illinois, was one of five Nike bases that formed a protective ring around the St. Louis (MO) metropolitan area. Since the 1966 passage of the National Historic Preservation Act, government agencies have attempted to mitigate damages to historic properties caused by Federal projects. Triggered by Section 106 of the Historic Preservation Act, this mitigation often results in the preparation of HAER documentation, which provides a documentary and visual record of a historic site. In the case of the lllinois Nike sites, the Chicago District of the Corps of Engineers was preparing to surplus numerous Nike installation landholdings within the state. Since that surplus was likely to result in the demolition of the bases, the Corps of Engineers, in partial fulfillment of its Section 106 responsibilities, agreed to document the two most intact Nike installations in Illinois. That documentation was prepared through an interagency agreement with the National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Regional Office. In recent years, there has been an increased appreciation of America's Cold War sites. Neither Nike Missile Base C-84 or SL-40 are 50 years old, the standard marker for historic recognition. But, as world leaders grapple with the implications ofthe end of the Cold War (1945- 1989), America's preservation community has become increasingly involved with recording and preserving the tangible evidence of that conflict within the context of the national experience. The HAER recordation of the Illinois Nike sites reflects this increased emphasis on the Nation's recent past.