Nike Missile Site HM-69

The Nike Missile Site HM-69 is a former Nike-Hercules missile base, now listed as a historic site west of Homestead, Florida, United States. It is located on Long Pine Key Road in the Everglades National Park. The site with 22 buildings opened in 1964 and closed in 1979 when it was turned over to the National Park Service.History and descriptionThe Homestead-Miami Defense Area was established as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was the last fixed air defense missile system to remain in operation in the continental United States. HM-69 was the westernmost of the Nike-Hercules sites ringing Miami. The south Florida sites were unique in operating an anti-tactical ballistic missile version of the Nike-Hercules, intended to intercept missiles fired from Cuba. A proportion of the district's missiles were armed with nuclear warheads.The battery was initially stationed in temporary facilities from 1962 to 1965 just outside the park entrance at a site near State Road 9336. Construction of the completed Battery A, as it was known, was completed in 1964 in a portion of the park known as the "Hole in the Donut", formerly occupied by Iori Farms. The launch site consisted of three above-ground launch units, each with four missiles. Above-ground units were required in the Everglades due to the high water table. A mobile HIPAR radar unit provided radar coverage. The fire control site was located to the north and is used by the Park Service as the Daniel Beard Research Center.