Did you know Denton housed SAM Sites?

[jredallas]

Yeah, I took two semesters of astronomy in the 90s and really enjoyed it out there for lab.  My favorite memory, though, was thinking I had locked my keys in  my car one night that we had a very late night lab watching a meteor shower.  I had to hitch a ride with someone else back in to town.  The next day in class, my professor tossed my keys to me as I walked into the classroom.  They were apparently not actually locked in the car but I had left them in the key hole when I opened the trunk. DOH!  (Yes, this is starting to make me feel old talking about a car that did not have a button to open the trunk.)

[eulessismore]

So, does anyone know if there are still those missile themed street names in the area?  Of course, there was Missile Base Road, but there was a nearby subdivision with streets named after various missiles, "Saturn", etc.

[97and03]

As I remember the story, UNT used to keep its lost and found there as well. Dozens of recovered bicycles down in the underground. At least that is what my ex-girlfriend who taught lab there in the early 2000s told me.

[southsideguy]

do the still use the old military base for astronomy lab?  i remember driving out their to look at the stars. I think they kept germany prisoners during world war ll.

[greenjoe]

No, no.  You're thinking about Camp Houze in Gainesville.  Some of the piers from buildings at Camp Houze are still visible west of Gainesville just north of US 82 I think.

And I'm anxious to be proven wrong but I don't think there was ever any connection between the TI facillity and the NIKE Missile Base.

The streets named for the missiles stored at the NIKE site included Pershing, Redstone, Atlas, Titan, and Hercules.

[pollock]

On 8/12/2011 at 3:01 PM, UNTLifer said:

 

Sorry, but this is incorrect. The Texas Instruments facility was built in the late 70's/early 80's, if memory serves me right, on land that was previously undeveloped. I also believe TI never even moved into the facility. The missile site was operational in the 60's, or roughly a little over a decade prior to the TI facility ever being built.

 

More like "completely made up" than incorrect, but I'm not sure what the point was.  Seems like he could have worked some jokes in, at least. 

The TI plant was built in the 80's, and you are right that TI never really did anything there.  My Dad worked for TI from '68 to about '92. 

The only time I've been to the missile base/observatory was in 98 or 99.  A neighbor was a film student at NT and used my car for a zombie movie he was shooting at that site.  Never did get to see the film but I sure would like to.

Edited October 9, 2018 by pollock

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

On 8/9/2011 at 9:43 AM, Denia Park Pedro said:

 

 

When DISD built its new stadium. The lights pretty much ruined it for astronomy if I remember correctly.

A larger issue the growth of Metroplex and the light that created.... when I was at UNT  (NTSU) there was nothing on the Mckinney Hwy and even undeveloped land between LBJ (635) and  Dallas .. IH-35 to Dallas had a lot of undeveloped land..  I don't even think I ever heard of the towns  Frisco or Allen..  The county side around Denton was rather dark and undeveloped. . 

. The missile site was still active when I was at UNT. .. I remember signs along the road nearby to not park there. (mid-late 60's)

Edited October 9, 2018 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[Legend500]

These facilities which I ran into while at NT led me onto an odd road that ended in me going to Harvard and becoming a nuclear strategist in my free time (which, considering my other day job is as a probate lawyer, seems incredibly self serving).

Me of 2011 was somewhat off, as Army of Dad said, the NIKE-Hercules system was for the interception of Soviet strategic bombers, not ICBMs (which the Soviets wouldn't throw into service against sites in Texas until much later). They actually did deploy the system to Denton, but it didn't last long - inter-branch squabbles and a growing realization that self-nuking was bad put an end to the system quickly.

The FRC site off 288 remains the far more interesting site. FEMA HQ-6 has massively expanded out there, and as I understand it, the disused portions of the old Facility have been pressed back into use.

As we now know from declassification and everyone in the nuke community knows as trivia, the Denton site was originally chosen by the Eisenhower administration, with the responsible agency (which would eventually become FEMA) originally operating out of Stoddard Hall at TWU. While it was publicly known as a Federal Regional Center, it was actually a Federal Relocation Center, chosen for it's mid-continent location, easy access to the Eisenhower System, presence of two universities, close location to the (then just Army's) AAFES HQ in Dallas, and relative anonymity. Plus Eisenhower liked that it was close to Denison, and some Senator from Texas liked that it was in his state. 

While the facility has been superseded by different plans, the involvement of Denton in such planning is ongoing - the TI plant was part of that, as is UNT's EAP program. UNT, TWU and Denton have an incredibly interesting role in the development of our disaster response and continuity systems.

1 hour ago, pollock said:

 

More like "completely made up" than incorrect, but I'm not sure what the point was.  Seems like he could have worked some jokes in, at least. 

The TI plant was built in the 80's, and you are right that TI never really did anything there.  My Dad worked for TI from '68 to about '92. 

The only time I've been to the missile base/observatory was in 98 or 99.  A neighbor was a film student at NT and used my car for a zombie movie he was shooting at that site.  Never did get to see the film but I sure would like to.

TI never got in, which is a shame. The program which that plant was meant for, though, had absolutely nothing to do with the missile base. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't related - the FRC site was absolutely related, as was the TI/Raytheon facility along University on the west side of McKinney. The NIKE missiles were built at the PANTEX plant in Amarillo and storage bounced around between several sites, all connected by rail. 

40 minutes ago, SCREAMING EAGLE-66 said:

A larger issue the growth of Metroplex and the light that created.... when I was at UNT  (NTSU) there was nothing on the Mckinney Hwy and even undeveloped land between LBJ (635) and  Dallas .. IH-35 to Dallas had a lot of undeveloped land..  I don't even think I ever heard of the towns  Frisco or Allen..  The county side around Denton was rather dark and undeveloped. . 

. The missile site was still active when I was at UNT. .. I remember signs along the road nearby to not park there. (mid-late 60's)

RUAC was moved pretty much because of the DISD stadium, which was the final nail. The towers would have made any SE inclination below 40 deg an eyeball hazard. But yeah, the glow from DFW also made the facility less useful, but that's a problem the Astronomy Department can't solve without moving our facilities into Oklahoma.

To make this football related, I tried using the old airport perimeter road on which the new RUAC is situated to get to Apogee, but some ahole went and build a bigger runway on it. 

Edited October 9, 2018 by Legend500

[ADLER]

Wow, as an amateur historian I have enjoyed this thread.

The underground government complex on the east loop: I toured this facility, at least a small part of it in the 1980's when it was still closed to the public (it still may be for all I know, and it may have been destroyed). 

The missile base...it's still there, off North locust just south of Milam Rd where the KNTU tower stands. (look on Google Earth) I went there a couple times with friends late at night in the later 80's.

There are three rusted silo bays, huge rectangular trap doors each longer than an 18 wheeler, and a small tunnel entrance for each about 30 feet way. There were large padlocks on each entrance, but one padlock was much newer and larger than the other two. This padlock was on a large rusted loop through a steel slot, but the slotted steel piece  was fastened closed by one large rusted nut that was easily removed by hand. The whole overbuilt lock assembly was way too easy to unlock, flip over, and open the steel hatch that led down a long concrete staircase in a concrete tunnel. There was a light switch at the bottom of the stairs. The lights in the cavernous room came on and the room started humming loudly and there were a series of loud clunking sounds as ancient hydraulic equipment sprang to life. There were hundreds of boxes marked North Texas so it was apparent that we weren't the first to visit but this was still an amazing facility to explore. The bay doors up top snapped open instantly with the push of a button, and a lever on the missile pad instantly raised the whole platform flush at ground level. Way too cool!  We returned everything back to its original position, tuned off the power and resealed the door locks when we left. Always thought I'd some night go back and to photograph the facility but I think that opportunity has long ago passed.