My friend and I have always been interested in urban exploration. There's something profound with watching the world we once inhabited, and the transformation that happens when human maintenance is removed. I think that the interest stems from games such as Fallout, and a curiosity in places like Chernobyl. Not being made of free money, the best we can do is go find places in our own region that have these sorts of qualities. So, with the want to document these changes, and help add to the database here for others with mutual interest to explore and watch the change of the old world, we made a snap decision to go to the Newport Nike Missile Base.

By the time we arrived, we only had a few hours of light left. We also had not browsed the past galleries on this location to find the maps, which we will use on our next visit. So, while we didn't capture a huge volume of pictures in a variety of places on the airfield, we did get a good amount of photo-documentation on the current status of the barracks, and the warhead testing building, as well as some other random points on the base.

We will hit more buildings on a more well-planned trip in the weeks to come. For now, enjoy the pictures. I've labeled them by what and where they were on the base. Because of the nature of the picture names, they are not in order of our capture.

1.
Administration building. One of the last things we found, so it was dark at this time. We didn't want to mess with the mojo (and wanted to get our car out of the park before it closed), so we didn't explore it.


2.
Quick snap right of the admin building front door.

3.
Same, to the left.

4.
Air strip, heading south.

5.
Moving south more, with me using my GPS to navigate.

6.
More of the same.

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10.
Barracks from the south, as we were leaving it.

11.
Barracks from the north, as we approached it.

12.
From the view of the barracks front door, looking out.

13.
What I expect were once the latrines of the barracks.

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16.
Busted support pillar in the main area of the barracks. Unsettling.

17.
Some damage to the interior wall of the barracks.

18.
Barracks commons. You can just imagine the double bunks lined up against the walls, filled with airmen or soldiers.

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20.
Entrance to the barracks from the side, direction of north.

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25.
One of the side rooms of the barracks, so we'd be facing East.

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27.
Front door to the barracks.

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30.
From the inside of the common area, looking out at the north side entrance.

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37.
Cool electric box we found exploring the expansive nothingness.

38.
Front gate as we were leaving.

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41.
Guard tower to south facilities.

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45.
Map from older posts.

46.
Same.

47.
Same.

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50.
Writing on the pavement, just before the guard tower.

51.
Some part of the barracks, couldn't remember where from.

52.
Guard tower 2.


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54.
The following are various shots from inside and out of the warhead test building.

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75.
Admin building from road.

Lots of good info on this site here: http://nikehercules.tripod.com/d-57.html

There is quite a lot of history behind this location. Good job documenting what's left, can't wait to see more pics from future visits. I keep meaning to check out some of the old Nike sites when I'm in Cleveland on vacation, but other stuff always comes up...

Jeff

Looks like a fun explore!

Just a couple things.. Perhaps try rotating pictures correctly and slim down the amount you decide to post/avoid duplicate shots. This will make for a much more enjoyable visit to your thread. =]

Thanks, Jeff, and thanks for the link. I'll make sure to do a bit more research before the next trip. As I said, it was a spontaneous decision and something we'd always wanted to do. You should check'em out. I'm in the national guard, and my family is a military family, so anything military has been of big interest to me.

Yeah, Relik, I don't know why some of them posted turned like that, as they weren't showing up in the preview on their side.

Anyway, I'll be sure to post more of the other buildings soon. I am going to need to do quite a bit of bushwhacking to get to some of them.

Thanks for the comments and critiques

You could always rotate them in a photo editing program prior to uploading them. The uploader on here is rather clunky. I avoid it at all costs.

Rotating them is easy enough, it's just odd that it showed up on the computer as straight. I'll edit them here when I get some time.

Ooh, nice tour of the place. I love all the overgrowth (and gad dang, that splintered beam!).

And I know that feel, with the photo rotation thing. That's happened to me before, not on this forum but elsewhere. So annoying when it all looks fine before you hit go. =.=

I poked around that site a couple times back in the 1990s. Back then, the IFC area was used by Michigan ARNG as an equipment storage site -- I vaguely remember some CONEXs, vehicles & trailers. They also used the Admin area, as I'd see a flag up on the flagpole occasionally & a SINCGARS antenna on the roof.

I poked around the grounds around 1996 or 1997 when the Corps of Engineers was "remediating" part of the site & that must have been shortly after the ARNG permanently left.

My final visit was around 2000 or 2001. The place was pretty trashed, I think the relatively historic fire station that'd remained from the NAAS days (& converted at some point to a base theater, though there wasn't really any obvious theater-related remains when I explored) was either removed by the USACE contractors, or at least had asbestos floor & ceiling tiles removed.


Here are photos of my ceremoniously launching a bottle rocket from atop one of the steel blast pads that a Nike missile would have been launched atop of.

click to view

click to view

click to view

When you get back to the site, look for the steel blast plates & you'll know you're atop the old missile storage magazines/launch pit area and try to go document the remains at the old IFC sites (D-57C & D-58C).

Also of course, there are many other Nike sites in SE Michigan for you to document.

http://www.ed-thelen.org/loc.html


/-/oolie

Nice pictures, that base is one of my favorite explores around there

Clearly you were excited by this explore. A big place, covert, with interesting contrasts between the lush intrusions of undergrowth and the slowly yielding concrete. You have some good pics here, particularly #1, 26, 29 and 37. Congratulations!

I also have some suggestions.

1. Don't post all your pictures. Only post the best four or five. That way, people will think all your pictures are that good, you're awesome, and the site you discovered is fabulous.

For example, pictures of your buddy standing on a featureless road or in a featureless doorway might be omitted to improve the portfolio. Pictures that are blurry or have no particular subject, the same. If the site really is fabulous and you feel you must share more pics, and they're good, that's great. Also, you can create a UE DB location (when you're a full member) that includes multiple galleries of 25 pictures each.

2. Don't post the same picture, or a minor variation on it, more than once.

We're scouting a Nike site, so I found your explore very interesting; thanks.

i liked this, i drive by there alot. where is this?