HomeFairfax General ForumArrest/Ticket SearchWiki newPictures/VideosChatArticlesLinksAbout
Fairfax County General :  Fairfax Underground fairfax underground logo
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Nike Missil sites
Posted by: ferfux ()
Date: June 08, 2007 08:48PM

Ok there is documented in the Spooky mansion Lorton prison thread about a NIKE missle site. I know there is another NIKE missle silo off Utterback store road and route 7 or used to be one on the Elememtary school soccer feild. Anyone know of anymore around FX county?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: TheMeeper ()
Date: June 08, 2007 09:00PM

Anyone know of anymore around FX county?

There is one conveniently located at the Foot Locker in Tysons Corner Mall. They have more NIKE than you can ever imagine, big signs and everything. They even have a place called Kids Foot Locker and another one called Ladys Foot Locker, it's getting to be borderline ridiculous.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Schrute ()
Date: June 08, 2007 09:25PM

* Nike Site W-64 in Lorton, Virginia. This site was co-located with the now closed Lorton Reformatory. The launcher facility, located at the intersection of Hooes Road and VA 611, is in the process of being developed into the Cold War Museum with the assistance of Francis Gary Powers, Jr., the son of Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 pilot shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. The former control facility is located on the west side of Silverbrook Road just south of Hooes Road and became part of the prison maintenance facility.

* Nike Site W-83 in Great Falls, Virginia was later used by the Defense Mapping Agency and is now part of the Fairfax County Turner Farm park. The park has been identified as having the darkest skies within 30 miles of Washington, D.C. It is used by the amateur-astronomy Analemma Society for night viewing, and has recreational facilities for daytime use. There are proposals to create an "Observatory Park" for public observation and education using county grants.

Although not listed in the Wiki, there is a Nike Missile site sign on the Fairfax County Pkwy, just north of Popes Head Road.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Nike

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: KeepOnTruckin ()
Date: June 09, 2007 01:09AM

yep, its on the NB lanes on the right between braddock and popes head. theres a historical marker.

when were all these built? seems like a boatload of cold war stuff was built in Fairfax in the late 50's thru early 70's. I mean, we got all these missle sites, plus all the schools back then had bomb shelters. we got a lot of schools built back then, and the metro too. whered all this money come from?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: RESton Peace ()
Date: June 09, 2007 05:28AM

When you mention the one at utterback (great falls site), you are referring to... "nike park"... SO it was hardly forgotten.

Most kids are just like me... when I played baseball for herndon at nike park as a kid, I always assumed the shoe company had paid to sponsor the park or something.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: RESton Peace ()
Date: June 09, 2007 05:30AM

Many sites have documented the fairfax site, but yeah the wiki is lacking. If you are driving north on the parkway, one of those historical signs marks it about half a mile from popes head, iirc.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: June 09, 2007 12:20PM

I don't know if it was a Nike site but we used to go down in an abandoned missile facility in Burke. I wish I could remember exactly where it was... they have probably filled it with dirt by now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2007 12:20PM by pgens.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: T-Bone®©™ ()
Date: June 10, 2007 12:53AM

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't know if it was a Nike site but we used to
> go down in an abandoned missile facility in Burke.
> I wish I could remember exactly where it was...
> they have probably filled it with dirt by now.

That's the one on Popes Head Rd.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Spacy ()
Date: June 10, 2007 02:39AM


Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: June 10, 2007 08:35AM

T-Bone®©™ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> That's the one on Popes Head Rd.

No, this thing was located somewhere by the post office near lake braddock high school. If you walked a ways behind the 7-11 in that shopping area I think that's how one got to it. That was around 20 years ago. I'll post the pics I took in case someone recognizes it.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: June 10, 2007 06:31PM

Here are three pics of the area. Sorry for the quality... inside of course was dark except for flashlight and camera flash, and they were probably taken with a Kodak Disc camera.

Anyway, the first is the hatch we used to get down (climb up/down via hose or rope). Next is from inside and where the light is shining down from the ceiling that is where the hatch was. The inside shot was a friend in one of the doorways. I can't find one other pic, but it was an outside shot showing wide, hinged doors set in the concrete. This may not have been a launch site... it was more likely a storage depot or something.
Attachments:
silooutside.jpg
siloinside.jpg
siloinside2.jpg

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: KeepOnTruckin ()
Date: June 10, 2007 10:25PM

got an address/gps? this would be a great place to go urbexing if it hasnt been demolished

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: ECON202 ()
Date: June 10, 2007 11:09PM

hey, pgens..that's funny that you post those pics. I grew up in burke and that field looks real familiar. If I remember correctly, it's in the area on the other side of the bridge from the firestation and post office, by that shopping center burke center II with the rent a car place and where Mr. Pepperoni used to be.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: June 11, 2007 10:06AM

I guess it could have been on that side. I can't see anything on google satellite in either place, not that it would be that easy to spot anyway I guess. I'd love to check it out again if I knew how to get there.

There was also a very weird abandoned house in that area back behind 7-11 then too. We called it "Willy's Hut" or something like that. Nothing too special about it I guess, just spooky. The stairway down to the basement was pitch black and no one had the balls to go down there.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: trogdor! ()
Date: June 11, 2007 06:28PM

Google Earth has a bunch of them (all?) marked via Google Earth Community. Looks like Mr. Ed http://ed-thelen.org/index.html#loc is the one responsible. Lots of info up there.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: T-Bone®©™ ()
Date: June 11, 2007 07:22PM

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> T-Bone®©™ Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > That's the one on Popes Head Rd.
>
> No, this thing was located somewhere by the post
> office near lake braddock high school. If you
> walked a ways behind the 7-11 in that shopping
> area I think that's how one got to it. That was
> around 20 years ago. I'll post the pics I took in
> case someone recognizes it.

Yup graduated from braddock in '83. I remember the post office and that whole area before they changed it,,, don't remember a Nike site that close though. Those pics look just like Popes Head rd though ;-) - Was also albe to get in the "Crypts" off Rt 1 in Ft. Belvoir before those got totally closed. Remember those?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: June 11, 2007 07:32PM

Can you find the Pope's Head road site on Google Earth? Maybe that's where we went and I'm just hallucinating. I need to find that pic I'm missing... it gave a great view of the outside of the site.

edit to add: sorry if links were already posted for that... I'll look at them.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2007 07:35PM by pgens.

Options: ReplyQuote
Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: June 12, 2007 07:04AM

If that was where my pics are from, then the area certainly changed. I don't remember any houses that close, and the large metal plate doors aren't anywhere to be seen.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: KeepOnTruckin ()
Date: June 12, 2007 12:16PM

well heres my knowledge of the area.

The launch site appears to be at Popes Head Park. Thats off of the parkway to the south on Popes head rd. Its about a mile form the police firing range.

The fire control center (i think this is what the pics are of) appears to be the google earth map above by trogdor. that looks like private property, so hard to get to.

the park however is obviously public tho, so if anyone wants to take a look in the woods around it have at it. Ive been there before tho, and its a soccer field, playground, and basket ball court. of course the stuff is probably buried, so.

pgens, im sure the roads were different back then but do you remember how you got to the place?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: MBF ()
Date: June 12, 2007 02:33PM

The popes head site's address is 5414 Ladue Lane; the Fairfax County's real estate site refers to it as
"POPES HEAD RD
NIKE SITE NO 10
CONTROL AREA"

I've been trying to get more information on the Nike site (?) in burke, but can't find anything. I will be checking with one of my friends (he's 32) who grew up there, maybe he knows.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: June 12, 2007 02:41PM

KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pgens, im sure the roads were different back then
> but do you remember how you got to the place?

The roads may not have been different at all, it's just it was almost 20 years ago and I can't remember where we went. Only that it was in Burke, I thought it was over by Burke Village.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: KeepOnTruckin ()
Date: June 12, 2007 03:51PM

well, new braddock rd and union mill were built in the mid 90's. hell, rt 28 used to be like 4 lanes from 66 to dulles.

AND we didnt have any god damn backups every afternoon comin south on it.


oh oh, braddock rd used to actually be possible to follow. w/o going over 20 different roads

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: pgens ()
Date: June 12, 2007 04:04PM

Yeah, but those are roads further out. The area of Burke I'm talking about was already dense in the early 80's. Some roads were widened and bridges built (like the big Burke Village 2 ramp), but much of Burke is the same.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2007 04:05PM by pgens.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: mw451 ()
Date: June 12, 2007 07:14PM

pgens,

Your pics definitely look like the Nike Base off Popes Head Road. But, that base, back in the early '80's, had homes near by, you could see the lights from the houses, but they were far away.

Also, the entry way was NOT round as in your pics, it was a rectangular door way that opened to steep stairs, leading to a "blast door, then a fire control room to the side, and the underground misslie sortage area.

The Missile Elevator was welded shut at the top, and the "pit" that the elevator would drop into was full of beer cans, and I mean thousands.

There were 2-3 lauch areas at Popes Head Rd., all with huge metal elevators welded shut at the top and only 1 was accessible in 1981-1983 time frame.

Also, that facility was not filled in with dirt, the county, once they got the land, filled over the site for soccer fields.

The Radar/Tracking Facility, which sites had located nearby, is now a FFX Co. Police shooting range.

The pics you posted may be of a nearby Radar/Tracking Facility, or other type of bunker.

Great Falls Nike Park, off Rt. 7, last time I checked, (it's next to a school) still had the missile ready shack, and obvious concrete "gudeways" and a Radar Dome, which would not have been localted at the launcher site, so it was moved there from the Radar Facility off Old Georgetown Pike.

Tennis courts now cover the Launcher elevators, but there was a sewer grate to the side, and if you dropped a rock you could hear how deep it was.

Lorton was the 3rd VA site, and they are currently trying to use that as a museum for the "Cold War", Gary Powers son is spear-heading that effort.

Over in MD, there are still sites, not yet sealed off totally, but I wouldn't go onthe gorungs as the are still used for other purposes.

The best way to find them is this: Find 1 site, measure the distance to the center of DC. Then draw a circle around DC using that distance, and when you find these "odd" shaped parks, those are most likely your Nike Sites.

Sites always came in pairs: Radar/Tracking, (or Command and Control), and then less then 1/2 a mile away was the Launcher Facility. They are almost alway rectangular in shape, and whithin site of each other.

Launch site alway had huge steel doors welded shut at the top after they were decommissioned. You pics don't show that, so I think you found something else.

Search the web for Nike sites, San Fransisco preserved one of the best, and they have it all online.

I was in the Popes Head Rd. Laucnh site in the early '80s, and it's sad the covered it over.

----------------------


Was also albe to get in the "Crypts" off Rt 1 in Ft. Belvoir before those got totally closed. Remember those?


Yep, was the too T-Bone. Got arrested... ahem... busted there.

It was sad to see people smashed up all the statues and coffins...

One Coffin had never been sealed, the Wife's I think.

I was a beautiful area, so sad they destroyed it.

------------------------

mw

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Kevin Hammond ()
Date: June 18, 2007 07:05AM

There is one just outside of waldorf md that you are still able to climb up the satelite and down the silo. it is located off rt 228 and bensville road, at the top of the neighborhood Laurel Branch.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: RESton Peace ()
Date: June 18, 2007 08:10AM

Waldorf, you know, in far east fairfax county.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: 496 ()
Date: June 18, 2007 11:45AM

We can only hope that a missile is aimed at Great Falls. Nothing good comes from there.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: trogdor! ()
Date: June 18, 2007 11:58PM


Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: MBF ()
Date: June 19, 2007 10:43AM

That site is also off of Pope's Head Road in Fairfax, looks like it could be accessed off of Decour Court.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Champion ()
Date: June 22, 2007 10:21AM

I researched the program in high school; I became interested after I came across photos in the library of the missiles from old aerial photos. They were anti bomber missiles that were set up in a ring around the city. There were three in Fairfax with Lorton being the first site in the country. Each one was named by the direction from the city and by the nearest post office. So all Fairfax sites were named W something because they were all west of the city. Each base consisted of two sites: the launch site and the Guidance site. Each missile was guided by a large radar complex which would broadcast corrections as the missile flew. The missile launch range was a mile further out than the radar base so that the missiles would not fly over the base in route to interception.
The Nike’s lost prominence as the Soviet Union moved towards ICBMs which the Nike’s couldn't stop. Also towards the end of their life the Nike's went nuclear to shoot down larger formations with fewer missiles. The Lorton site was the only nuclear missile site in the county. With the focus on a couple large nuclear sites, like Lorton, the sites in pope’s head and Herndon dropped of in significance, with their main purpose becoming the relaying the radar info to the main defense computer in DC. According to older residents locals they would often get drunk with some of the guards while on duty at the Popes head range. By the seventies the nukes were maintained by the National Guard. After the SALT treaty was signed the nation got rid of the Hercules systems as they were fairly useless but still counted against the total of nukes we were allowed. Also the Hercules‘s had a high rate of failure which did not make it an ideal platform for launching nukes.
The land was given to the county, with no maintenance being done on the site and with them being left open; many people feared children would fall in and drown in the occasionally flooded missile storage sites. So the site were covered with dirt and made into parks so that no one would build upon them. If you go to popes launch site now there is a nice playground and field but the fencing barbed wire and upgraded roadway still exist, hinting at what it used to be. The radars were dismantled. The radar site on pope’s head now serves as a cold weather storage facility for the county road crews. The only site not covered was the Lorton site which was the largest. It was given to the district to serve as a jail and the former launch pads served as a form of exercise field. Oddly enough, superintendent Woodson of W. T. Woodson High School fame was very involved in the program. He would often go out to White Sands to see the development.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Tomahawk ()
Date: June 23, 2007 05:21PM

Took this photo today:
DSCF0110_thumb.JPG

edit by Cary: Made thumbnail of huge image. Click for full-size original.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2007 03:42PM by Cary.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Tomahawk ()
Date: June 23, 2007 05:22PM

Oops, sorry! Mods, please delete that monster jpg, I didn't realize itwould be that huge...

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Wade ()
Date: June 14, 2012 05:48PM

I did the same thing with my friend back in the 80s LOL

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: WADE ()
Date: June 14, 2012 05:50PM

THE SITE IS NOW A PARK.. YOU WILL NOT FIND IT

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Mrs. Tomahawk ()
Date: June 14, 2012 06:14PM

Tomahawk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I didn't realize it would be that huge...

Me neither, dear...

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Missileer ()
Date: September 10, 2015 12:51AM

I attended Lake Braddock during my junior and senior year of high school from 1984 to 1986 when my dad was assigned at the Pentagon. A local friend of mine took me to the Nike site near Pope's Head Rd during that time. I was fascinated by it. I recall climbing down into the site and seeing a small room off to the left of the entryway and to the right a large rectangular pit (maybe five feet deep?) that apparently used to hold the missile support/erector. The pit was full of beer cans and standing water. Above were two very large hinged doors that had been welded shut. There was lots of spray paint graffiti if I recall correctly. I had no idea that 25 years later I would be serving in the Air Force and command an intercontinental ballistic missile squadron in Wyoming...a weapon system that made the Nike and Bomarc sites obsolete. Living back in Fairfax County now, I drive by the Fairfax Nike Missile Site marker every now and again and often wondered what became of the area. Googling the site led me to this page.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missile sites
Posted by: Tempus ()
Date: September 14, 2018 09:04PM

You are correct about the rectangle entrance and steep stairs down.
Large underground room with a 'pit' down the middle filled with beer cans.
Back in the early 70s there were still some surface buildings standing.
Like the 'Crypt' we had our own urban legends surrounding the 'Missile Site'
where some foul-play supposedly had taken place, I remember the claim
of body parts 'found' and such nonsense and again the 'Pagans' were named.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Homie DD Clown ()
Date: May 31, 2019 04:47PM

2019-05 Lorton Pics..for you historians..
Attachments:
DJI_0306 - Copy.JPG
DJI_0340.JPG

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Jamie Lee ()
Date: October 12, 2019 07:53PM

Were you able to take photos of the site?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: hjfdhlj ()
Date: October 12, 2019 10:38PM

Here is the site on Bing and Goggle. Looks like they captured the demolition of county buildings.
Attachments:
Lorton Nike Herc Site-Bing.jpg
Lorton Nike Herc Site-Goggle.jpg

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: htwb9 ()
Date: October 12, 2019 10:54PM

Homie DD Clown Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 2019-05 Lorton Pics..for you historians..

Is that new construction on the site? And what is all the shit scattered around the concrete pads?

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7093504,-77.2530012,285m/data=!3m1!1e3

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: sggha ()
Date: October 12, 2019 11:08PM

htwb9 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Homie DD Clown Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 2019-05 Lorton Pics..for you historians..
>
> Is that new construction on the site? And what is
> all the shit scattered around the concrete pads?
>
> https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7093504,-77.253001
> 2,285m/data=!3m1!1e3


The post above yours shows that there were buildings there very recently.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: htwb9 ()
Date: October 13, 2019 12:58AM

sggha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> htwb9 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Homie DD Clown Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > 2019-05 Lorton Pics..for you historians..
> >
> > Is that new construction on the site? And what
> is
> > all the shit scattered around the concrete
> pads?
> >
> >
> https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7093504,-77.253001
>
> > 2,285m/data=!3m1!1e3
>
>
> The post above yours shows that there were
> buildings there very recently.


Oh cool, thanks. I was doing other things and started my post before the one above mine was posted. Interesting that they built and demo'd on the site yet have left all the Nike concrete pads intact.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: hfahfd ()
Date: October 13, 2019 09:06AM

htwb9 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> sggha Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > htwb9 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Homie DD Clown Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > 2019-05 Lorton Pics..for you historians..
> > >
> > > Is that new construction on the site? And
> what
> > is
> > > all the shit scattered around the concrete
> > pads?
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7093504,-77.253001
>
> >
> > > 2,285m/data=!3m1!1e3
> >
> >
> > The post above yours shows that there were
> > buildings there very recently.
>
>
> Oh cool, thanks. I was doing other things and
> started my post before the one above mine was
> posted. Interesting that they built and demo'd on
> the site yet have left all the Nike concrete pads
> intact.


I wonder what all those buildings were and why were they demo'd. Our Fairfax County Tax Dollars at work.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Nike Missil sites
Posted by: Fairfax Taxpayer ()
Date: October 13, 2019 09:43AM

It is a part of the Laurel Hill project. Which is a redevelopment of the old Lorton prison and surrounding area, as well as preservation of the Laurel Hill Plantation site.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planning-development/laurel-hill

In the below map, the Nike site is being called the "Heritage Area" at the 9 o'clock position on the map.
Attachments:
laurel hill aerial with land uses.pdf

Options: ReplyQuote


Your Name: 
Your Email (Optional): 
Subject: 
Attach a file
  • No file can be larger than 75 MB
  • All files together cannot be larger than 300 MB
  • 30 more file(s) can be attached to this message
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
 ********  ********   *******   ********   **     ** 
 **        **        **     **  **     **  ***   *** 
 **        **        **         **     **  **** **** 
 ******    ******    ********   **     **  ** *** ** 
 **        **        **     **  **     **  **     ** 
 **        **        **     **  **     **  **     ** 
 ********  ********   *******   ********   **     ** 
This forum powered by Phorum.