Vestige of Cold War demolished

By HARRIET MUHRLEIN

The last highly visible vestige of the Cold War in downtown Kingston was demolished in October.

The Navy housing on West Kingston Road across from Appletree Cove is gone and the site clearing almost complete for hydroseeding.

The Navy housing on West Kingston was originally Army housing and consisted of 12 units in six duplexes. The soldiers working in the Charlie Company of the 513th Coastal Defense Unit at the Nike Missile Site in Kingston first learned about possible plans for the units in June of 1956.

The Charlie Battery news from the 513th in the North Kitsap Herald (then known as the Kitsap County Herald) of Nov. 22, 1956, reported the clearing of land had begun for the housing. December must have been quite wet because the reporter stated the first foundation was finally in on Jan. 24, 1957.

Two photos in the March 7, 1957 Kitsap County Herald showed the contractor, inspector, developer, and an Army officer reviewing the drawings in front of one of the partially completed units. The other photo showed a prefabricated section of wall being moved from the truck toward its final location. The walls and roof sections were constructed in Seattle and shipped to Kingston by truck. Some of the sections were so large the trucks had to drive around. They did not fit on the Kingston ferry.

Nine families of enlisted men and three officers finally moved into the housing the last week of October 1957. Quarters were issued by job priority and date of rank.

The Army maintained the housing here for several years after the Nike sites closed in 1964. Army personnel continued to work in the area as part of the coastal defense system.

The buildings on West Kingston became Navy housing in 1976 or ’77. As the U.S. government declared military locations surplus, the Navy housing was transferred to Kitsap County, and eventually purchased by the county to become part of the Village Green park. Hopefully, in a few years we will have a new park, community center with library and senior housing there.

Kingston’s Nike Missile Site

The Nike Missile System was conceived in May 1945, just after the Victory in Europe at the end of World War II. The first Nike missile base was activated at Fort Meade, Virg., in December, 1953. The first missiles were relatively short range and meant for use shooting down enemy aircraft (Russian) should they attempt to come over American airspace.

At the maximum, 250 missile sites were located across the U.S., including Kingston and one in Poulsbo where the Olhava shopping center and the North Kitsap School District offices near Raab Park are located.

Each missile site consisted of two different locations. In Kingston, the highest ground in the area contained the equipment that detected, tracked, and then would have guided the missiles (if needed). That location is now the AGC Labor Training Center at the top of Ohio Street.

The Nike Missile Site S-92 in Kingston was functional from 1954–1975, originally designed to launch Ajax missiles, but later redesigned for the second generation of Nike missiles, called Hercules missiles, which were capable of carrying nuclear warheads, according to 2005 document of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The site off West Kingston Road, where Kingston High School, the North Kitsap School District bus barn and Spectrum Community School are located, contained two missile magazines, support buildings, and barracks. Spectrum is housed in the former barracks.

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