Cold War Missile Silo
Thursday, July 20, 2023
The North Country’s Atlas-F ICBM missile silos were designed by the United States Air Force in the early 1960s when the Cold War’s nuclear tensions were at their highest. Boquet 556-5, or the Lewis Missile Base, served as part of the Plattsburgh Ballistic program, which consisted of twelve missile sites located in Northeastern New York and Northwestern Vermont. These sites were located along a concentric perimeter with the Plattsburgh Air Force Base at its center. The topography of these sites varied from flat pasture or meadowland surrounding Lake Champlain to the mountainous rough, boulder strewn, and forested lands of the Adirondack Mountains. All silos were built from the same design, and regardless of where any one silo was located, the layout, specification, building process and time frame always remained the same. Today, the uses of these decommissioned sites vary, and we have been granted special access to tour the repurposed silo in Lewis.
This outing is led by site owners from Unconventional Concepts, Inc. The first half-day tour begins at 10 AM and ends at 12:00 PM and the second tour starts at 1 PM and ends at 3:00 PM
The fee is $55 for AARCH members and $65 for non-members.