News Release

NIKE Missile Program at National Lakeshore

Date: July 31, 2018

Join Mark L. Morgan and Mark A Berhow co-authors of “Rings of Supersonic Steel: Air Defenses of the United States Army 1950-1974 (an Introductory History and Site Guide)” for a presentation about the United States NIKE Missile program  on Saturday, August 25, at 2:00 pm at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Visitor Center.
 
The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Headquarters Complex was once a NIKE Missile base. Proposed in 1945 at the start of the "Cold War", Project NIKE was a US Army project to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. NIKE Missile Base C-32, in Porter, Indiana, became operational in 1957 with Hercules missiles. The NIKE /Hercules missile program was deactivated in 1974. In 1976, the National Park Service began negotiating with the Army to acquire part of the Porter base as its new Headquarters for Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. In 1979, the National Park Service moved in.
 
This special presentation is sponsored by the National Council on Public History, the Cornelius O’Brien Lecture Series, and Friends of Indiana Dunes.
 
The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center is located at 1215 North State Road 49, about one mile north of Interstate 94. For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, call 219-395-1882 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/indu and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/IndianaDunesNL.
 
www.nps.gov