Long Island Nike Missile Site, Massachusetts

This was the launch site for a battery of Nike Ajax missiles, active between 1955 and 1961; one of fifteen Nike Missile sites operated in Massachusetts between the 1950's and the 1970's, to defend coastal urban areas against aerial attack. Missiles were stored underground and launched from the area now covered by a concrete slab. This launch complex is on Long Island, while the control center for the battery was on the mainland, connected to the island by a bridge and causeway. Long Island extends far into Boston Harbor, and remains off limits to the public, as its primary function today is to house treatment centers for individuals suffering from a variety of afflictions, including alcoholism, drug dependency, and other social and mental disorders. Later versions of the Nike deployed in Massachusetts boasted both nuclear warheads, as well as extended range.