Building a Bigger Monster: SF-88 Nike Missile Site

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In the eighth grade, I wrote a research paper about nuclear warfare. We were allowed to choose any topic and I chose to write about the invention of the atomic bomb, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the hand these weapons played in the Cold War and beyond. I do not know what drew me to the topic back then. I still have the same interest in it now, so I’m trying to flesh out why I find it more interesting, than, say, the American Revolution. I’ve always hated studying early United States history.  In comparing the two, the American Revolution seems gritty and physical, while the Cold War Era has a  sterility and inhumanity to it (strange how something as horrible as war can be characterized as being more or less humane than another).  If nuclear warfare had broken out during the Cold War, most of the killing would not have been by actual soldiers, but by extremely powerful bombs that could annihilate you in an instant. It feels like the goal of the Revolution was clearer than that of the Cold War. The winner of the Revolution gained the rights to rule the United States, but the winner of the Cold War gained the capability to kill and destroy the other country more? I am interested by the way in which the world became so twisted by the technology of atomic weaponry. The preposterousness of the ability to destroy the whole world many times over is evident now, but the fear of atomic war was very palpable during the Cold War, fueling ridiculous levels of scientific invention in attack and defense. We can only hope that by looking back at this history, we can learn to not to revert to that lack of humanity (though we still have these weapons, so perhaps not much has changed?)

            A physical legacy of this time is the SF-88 Nike Missile Site, one of the United States’ earliest forms of defense against an atomic attack from the Soviet Union. In the early 1950’s, Nike Missile Sites were secret stations throughout the country to defend against Soviet bomber jet airplanes. Today, the SF-88 site, located in the Marin Headlands north of San Francisco, is the only Nike site in the country that has been renovated and maintained as a museum to educate visitors about some of the technology involved in Cold War defense. The sites had the capability of deploying radar controlled missiles that could meet their targets in a matter of seconds.

            SF-88 houses and maintains Nike Ajax and Hercules Missiles (unarmed and un-fueled) as well the computers, radar stations, and other objects representative of the Army Air Defense force that operated the stations (of particular interest to me was the regimental crests displayed in a case; symbolic crests feel like something from medieval Europe, not Cold War U.S., but then, what do I know about the Army?) Everything is designed and built to conform to the standard of United States Military Defense, categorized as Mil-Spec, to insure reliability and durability of materials and tools at the sites. In other words, things needed to function and not break in times of need, so they are made to withstand much more than their basic use. This is evident in the computers and radar stations, which are housed in hardy metal cases, in which everything can be closed and transported in single units. These things feel very substantial, with rounded corners, large buttons and switches, and clear, upper case text labeling the functions of everything. On the missiles themselves, panels to the inside are rounded, with screws that are flush with the side of the rockets. Inside the rockets, electrical wires are bundled and knotted carefully with waxed Irish linen (loose cables could cause the rocket and its radar not to function properly). The whole place has this type no-nonsense design, particularly in the magazine that houses missiles. Bright yellow and reds are painted to indicate exits, important tools, buttons and safety equipment, while the rest is painted in cool minty greens and whites. There is a kind of mechanical sense to the early computer, radar, and communication systems. The main computer has large gears to make it work and dials that indicate the time to interception. There are few screens (as there are in today’s computers) but lots of plugs, dials, levers, and buttons.

            The radar trailer seemed to me particularly representative of the way in which the Cold War was manned from behind machines. From these small, dark, windowless trailers, soldiers detected their targets, and aimed the missiles. The missiles were launched from a small underground room in the magazine. These sites were originally created because it was impossible to shoot down the newer Soviet jet aircraft with the gunners used during WWII, even those guided by radar. The new planes were too fast and flew too high for the range of the old guns. Using computers and communication systems to perform and confirm these actions, it is like the technology became an extreme extension of physical human capabilities. The system as a whole, involving many men, and lots of machinery, it is quite a monstrous entity. It seems like it would be easier to dehumanize your enemy when you are only one of many responsible for their destruction. But I guess that was always the goal: to make sure our monster was bigger and better than theirs. 

 The Nike Historical Society keeps this website which includes lots of great photos of Nike sites,  and detailed technical information about the machinery and almost everything else you can see at SF-88. 


The Woodrow Wilson Archives contain documents from the Cold War, to help disseminate its history that was previously top secret. This website is very useful in trying to understand the time; I wish I had known about it when I wrote my research paper back in middle school.

To see more of my photos, please visit my flickr site. 

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