Nike Missile Site W-25 (Control Area)

Nike Missile Control Area W-25, now the Davidsonville Recreation Center owned by Anne Arundel County, was an Integrated Fire Control (IFC) area for the US Army's Nike anti-ballistic missiles from the 1950s until 1974.

History

W-25, which would have defended the Washington-Baltimore Area from nuclear attack , was originally to be constructed on Kent Island, MD, but due to high real estate costs, the US Army moved it to an area off Queen Anne Bridge Road in Davidsonville, MD, in 1954 . In 1958, land for a 16-unit Armed Forces Housing Project for the families of those stationed at W-25 was purchased on the north side of Queen Anne Bridge Road . In 1963, W-25 was given the honor of being named "the National Nike Site" . In May 1964, the Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) bestowed W-25's adjacent launch site with its Distinguished Firing Battery Award, which the battery received for outstanding performance during ARADCOM's firing competitions . In December 1964, W-25's fallout protection construction, which included sturdy concrete buildings and air filtration systems, was completed .

W-25's tracking station, now the Anne Arundel Radio Club, in July 2022.

Each Nike site had a prefix to identify the city it would defend. This was followed by a two-digit suffix with numbers ranging between 01 and 99, representing the site's direction from the city it defended. For example: BA-43 means the Nike site was tasked with defending the Baltimore Area, and it was located to the south and slightly to the east of Baltimore (compass heading 155°, 50 in the Nike numbering system meaning due south or 180°). BA-43 is located in Jacobsville, MD.

The following is a list of the Nike Defense Areas alphabetized by prefix:

Nike Missile Defense Areas

Defense Area Name Abbreviation (Prefix)	Defense Area
B	Boston, MA
BA	Baltimore, MD (Washington–Baltimore)
BD	Barksdale, LA
BG	Bergstrom, TX
BR	Bridgeport, CT
BU	Niagara/ Buffalo, NY
C	Chicago, IL/ Gary, IN
CD	Cincinnati, OH/ Dayton, OH
CL	Cleveland, OH
D	Detroit, MI
DF	Dallas, TX/ Fort Worth, TX
DY	Dyess AFB, TX
E	Ellsworth, SD
F	Fairchild, WA
H	Hanford, WA
HA	Hartford, CT
HM	Homestead/Miami, FL
KC	Kansas City, MO
L	Loring AFB, ME
LA	Los Angeles, CA
LI	Lincoln, NE
M	Milwaukee, WI
MS	Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
N	Norfolk, VA
NF	Niagara/Buffalo, NY
NY	New York, NY
OA	Oahu, HI
OF	Offutt AFB, Ne
PH	Philadelphia, PA
PI	Pittsburgh, PA
PR	Providence, RI
R	Robins, GA
S	Seattle, WA
SC	Schilling AFB, KS
SF	San Francisco, CA
SL	St. Louis, MO
T	Travis AFB, CA
TU	Turner, GA
W	Washington, DC (Washington-Baltimore)
WA	Walker, NM

Operation

Had there been a nuclear attack, W-25's IFC Area would have tracked the target vehicle and the Nikes fired at it using its three radars . The Acquisition Radar would detect the approach of an incoming bomber plane or ballistic missile, then the Tracking Radar would feed the target vehicle's location and details about its movements into the computer, and then the Missile Tracking Radar would follow the Nike . The computer would then guide the missile towards the target and calculate the nearest intercept point

Davidsonville Recreation Center and Anne Arundel County Police Training Academy

The Davidsonville Dance Club, one of the repurposed W-25 IFC buildings, in July 2022.

The properties on which the W-25 IFC Area and its adjacent launcher, W-25L, stood were purchased by Anne Arundel County in 1976 and turned into the Davidsonville Recreation Center , and the Anne Arundel County Police Training Academy , respectively. The Davidsonville Recreation Center is home to Boy Scout Troop 454, the Davidsonville Dance Club, and the Anne Arundel Radio Club . Members of the Anne Arundel Radio Club, upon their purchase of what is now their clubhouse in the fall of 1976, requested that the concrete pillar and platform atop which W-25's Tracking Radar stood remain intact. .