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Carrollton in Isle of Wight County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Nike-Ajax Missile Radar Control Site N-75C

 
 
Nike-Ajax Missile Radar Control Site N-75C Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, September 18, 2010
1. Nike-Ajax Missile Radar Control Site N-75C Marker
Inscription.
The Cold War and Nike-Ajax Base N-75
Here was located site N-75C (C for control) and the counterpart site N-75L (L for launch) was located at Carrollton Nike Park.

The “Cold” War (1949-1990) is so named because no actual armed conflict took place between the two alliances: The Warsaw Pact and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It began when Joseph Stalin, dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), reneged on his commitments to withdraw the Soviet Army from the Eastern European countries it had occupied in the great victory over Nazi Germany. In quick succession, the Soviet Union acquired intercontinental bombers and then nuclear weapons in August of 1949. Next, the West viewed the 1950 attack by North Korea against the South as a Soviet inspired opening battle in the bid for world domination by the Soviet Union.

Beginning in 1951, the United States deployed hundreds of WWII era anti-aircraft gun batteries around major U.S. cities as a reaction to the perceived threat of a potential nuclear bomber attack against America. Meanwhile, the U.S. had been developing an anti-aircraft missile to replace the obsolete anti-aircraft guns. Based on research developed from the German V-2 rocket program of WWII, the U.S. Army tested the world’s first successful supersonic anti-aircraft
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missile designated “Nike-Ajax”. In 1953 production began on this missile and eventually over 13,000 of these missiles were constructed and deployed to several hundred locations in the U.S. and around the world.

The missile base here in Carrollton, Virginia, was one of these bases. It was operational by 1954 and stood ready to defend America until longer range nuclear tipped missiles, the Nike-Hercules, made the Ajax obsolete. In 1961, the Carrollton base became an Army radio relay site which operated until 1971. Isle of Wight County obtained the former missile base from the federal government in 1972 and began the development of a convenience center and the parks and recreation facilities—Carrollton Nike Park and Jones Creek Boat Ramp.

The U.S. Army designation for this missile base was N-75 (Carrollton/Smithfield). “N” stood for Norfolk Defense Area because this base was one of eight in the Hampton Roads Area which protected the critical military installations of Norfolk Naval Operating Base, Norfolk Naval Air Station, Langley Air Force Base, Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Oceana Naval Air Station and the private Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. “75” meant that this base was the 75th Nike-Ajax battery in the U.S. to become operational. The “L” in the heading designated this as the Launch site where the actual missiles were kept in concrete
Locations of launch and control sites image. Click for full size.
2. Locations of launch and control sites
N-75C (Control) is now Jones Creek Convenience Center and N-75L (Launch) is now Carrollton Nike Park.
underground magazines. In close proximity was N-75C, the control site for this base.

(sidebar)
Directions to Carrollton Nike Park from Jones Creek Landing:

From Jones Creek Landing turn left on Boundary road, turn right onto Smiths Neck Road, righ turn onto Titus Creek Drive, left onto Nike Park road, right into Carrollton Nike Park.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, Cold. A significant historical year for this entry is 1949.
 
Location. 36° 58.527′ N, 76° 33.718′ W. Marker is in Carrollton, Virginia, in Isle of Wight County. Marker can be reached from Boundary Road, 0.4 miles west of Smiths Neck Road. This marker is located in the parking lot of the Jones Creek Boat Ramp. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 21205 Boundary Rd, Carrollton VA 23314, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. 1954 Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-75L (approx. 0.9 miles away); People and Places, circa 1957 at N-75L (approx. 0.9 miles away); Missile Magazine and Launch Operations (approx. 0.9 miles away); Warraskoyack Indians (approx. 1.4 miles away); Josiah Parker (approx. 2 miles away); James River (approx. 2.7 miles away); Saint Luke's Church (approx. 2.7 miles away); Historic St. Luke's Church (approx. 2.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Carrollton.
Postcard view of Nike-Ajax site in “Hampton Roads” Virginia image. Click for full size.
3. Postcard view of Nike-Ajax site in “Hampton Roads” Virginia

 
More about this marker. On the upper left is an aerial photograph of the control and launch sites labeled, “N-75C (Control) Now Jones Creek Convenience Center” and “N-75L (Launch) Now “Nike Park””.

On the lower left is a “Postcard view of Nike-Ajax site in “Hampton Roads” Virginia”>

On the upper right is a photograph of the “Radar at Jones Creek site N-75C ca. 1954”.

On the lower right is a diagram of “Basic Nike–Ajax operations”.

On the bottom is a timeline of base operations.
 
Also see . . .
1. Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-75. Smithfield & Isle of Wight Convention and Visitors Bureau (Submitted on September 21, 2010.) 

2. Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-75. Isle of Wight County (Submitted on September 21, 2010.) 

3. Nike Historical Society. (Submitted on September 21, 2010.)
 
Radar at Jones Creek site N-75C ca. 1954 image. Click for full size.
4. Radar at Jones Creek site N-75C ca. 1954
Basic Nike–Ajax operations image. Click for full size.
5. Basic Nike–Ajax operations
N-75C marker at Jones Creek Boat Ramp image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, September 18, 2010
6. N-75C marker at Jones Creek Boat Ramp
Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-75L/C Timeline image. Click for full size.
7. Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-75L/C Timeline
1945 End of World War II
1949 1st successful USSR atomic bomb start of Cold War
1951 1st successful Nike-Ajax missile test.
1954 Base established and missiles installed
1961 Ajax missiles obsolete and missiles removed
1962 Base became radio relay site
1971 U.S. Army vacated facility
1972 Property deeded to Isle of Wight County
1975 Became Carrollton Nike Park Recreational Facility
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 9, 2021. It was originally submitted on September 21, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,418 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on September 21, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.

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Mar. 19, 2024