The Nike Missile Site HM-69 (also known as Hole in the Donut or Everglades Nike Site or Missile Base) is a former
Nike-Hercules missile base, now listed as a historic site west of
Homestead,
Florida,
United States. It is located on Long Pine Key Road in the
Everglades National Park. The site with 22 buildings opened in 1964 and closed in 1979 when it was turned over to the
National Park Service.
History and description
The Homestead-Miami Defense Area was established as a result of the
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
, and was the last fixed air defense missile system to remain in operation in the continental United States. HM-69 was the westernmost of the
Nike-Hercules sites ringing
Miami.
The south Florida sites were unique in operating an anti-tactical ballistic missile version of the Nike-Hercules, intended to intercept missiles fired from Cuba. A portion of the district's missiles were armed with nuclear warheads.
The battery was initially stationed in temporary facilities from 1962 to 1965 just outside the park entrance at a site near State Road 9336.
Construction of the completed Battery A, as it was known, was completed in 1964 in a portion of the park known as the "Hole in the Donut", formerly occupied by Iori Farms.
The launch site consisted of three above-ground launch units, each with four missiles. Above-ground units were required in the Everglades due to the high water table.
A mobile HIPAR radar unit provided radar coverage.
[ The fire control site was located to the north and is used by the Park Service as the Daniel Beard Research Center.][Hach, p. 45]
Preservation
On July 27, 2004, Battery A/HM-69 was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[ A restored Nike-Hercules missile is on display at the site.]
See also
*List of Nike missile sites
The following is a list of Nike missile sites operated by the United States Army. This article lists sites in the United States, most responsible to Army Air Defense Command; however, the Army also deployed Nike missiles to Europe as part of the ...
References
External links
HM-69
at Everglades National Park
Cold War in South Florida Historic Resource Study
National Park Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nike Missile Site Hm-69
U.S. Army Nike sites
National Register of Historic Places in Everglades National Park
National Register of Historic Places in Miami-Dade County, Florida
1964 establishments in Florida