Havenwoods Nike Missile Site (M-96) - Milwaukee, WI - Photos Then and Now on Waymarking.com

With the start of the Cold War in the 1950s, the military developed defenses to prepare for possible attacks by the USSR or its allies. In 1956, the Army established a Nike Ajax Missile Site in the north-central portion of the land that was to become Havenwoods State Forest. This was one of eight missile sites encircling Milwaukee that were intended to protect the city from Soviet long-range bombers.

By 1958, the Ajax missile was already obsolete. The Army began converting Nike sites from the Ajax to a new missile, Hercules, which could carry a nuclear warhead, but the site at Havenwoods was not converted. In 1963, the Army closed the site, removing the missiles and communication equipment. In 1996, a contractor for the Army Corps of Engineers collapsed the underground structures into the inside spaces and filled them with rock and soil.

Today, the area is a flat rectangular prairie. All that remains of the Nike site are two earthen berms that were used during refueling operations, one metal fence post, a couple of sidewalks, and the holes left in the ground when the surrounding fences were removed.

The first photo was taken between 1956 and 1963 facing west north west with the earthen berms behind the photographer. Note the power lines on the right sides of the photos. The second photo was taken in fall of 2008.

Year photo was taken: between 1956 and 1963

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