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This place has some really cool history and videos if you can find them. Primarily active in the 80's until the early 2000's, this place was used as the primary center for turning the Titan IV missile's into something more suitable for space travel and research. What I have pictures of are the only remnants of the huge facility that used to be located here aside from the guard booth and roads of the facility.
Standing at over 100ft tall, this was used for holding the rocket engines upside as the nozzle was pointed upwards.
Here's @cleipelt for size reference
The little overhangs were built to help swallows and bats roost.
Not my photos but they showcase the structure used to hold the rockets prior to being torn down
I found this place with no tags back in 2019 and wanted to keep it that way as my own little secret but in the wake of corona, taggers have been more out and about and found this place on their own. Probably going to blow up soon or the Ranger Services are going to lock this place down even more than before. Surprisingly enough it was supposed to become a public park in 2016 but was delayed due to protected amphibians inhabiting the area as well as the toxic materials that rocket fuel releases when burnt.
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This place is really cool! I have known about this place for awhile just haven't got out there yet due to the long hike to get there. Pretty cool part of Bay Area history though! Hopefully it's not something that gets demoed to have a "safe" park.
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Posted by Goste
This place is really cool! I have known about this place for awhile just haven't got out there yet due to the long hike to get there. Pretty cool part of Bay Area history though! Hopefully it's not something that gets demoed to have a "safe" park.
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Lol that’s the fate that Nike Site SF-51 got.
Hiked up only to find everything leveled down to the foundation.
“In my restless dreams, I see that town…” | |
Posted by Natchraz
Lol that’s the fate that Nike Site SF-51 got.
Hiked up only to find everything leveled down to the foundation.
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You're probably right that this will also happen here eventually. I did the same hike with the same disappointment! I was so angry!!!! I hate to see a plaque explaining "what used to be there" after they demoed it on purpose to make it safe for the public, completely ignoring our historic past!
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Posted by Goste
This place is really cool! I have known about this place for awhile just haven't got out there yet due to the long hike to get there. Pretty cool part of Bay Area history though! Hopefully it's not something that gets demoed to have a "safe" park.
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Yeah, I don't know what to expect from that site at this point. In 2007, 55 or so of the original buildings used for manufacturing the rockets, fuel mixing, and other amenities were demoed. I was looking at satellite photos from over the years and they even went through the effort of digging up and flattening the bunkers that they had used as storage, yet they left the static test sight as well as a smaller version intact.
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Nice! Something new posted in the region for once!
http://www.flickr....rescueme1060/sets/
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Nice, this has been on my list for a while. I remember seeing super old news articles about residents miles & miles away complaining about the rocket testing. I guess it felt like an earthquake every time.
Curiosity killed the cat, but the cat had fun. voiddiver.com | |
Posted by sjchris
Not my photos but they showcase the structure used to hold the rockets prior to being torn down
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These photos you posted were shot by members here.
You should give them credit.
"By the prick of my thumb something wicked this way comes..."
"Under the cover of night, I travel across rooftops while you dream of adventure."
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Posted by Calvin Kaneda
These photos you posted were shot by members here.
You should give them credit.
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Yeah, just elaborating on what Calvin said, I appreciate your exploration and sharing *your* findings, I understand that we're all kinda rebels here for being into UE, but posting someone else's work is not cool, and the "Not my photos, but..." stuff doesn't & shouldn't go-over too well here, even if the owners of those photos weren't occasionally on this site. I know you mean-well, etc. but re-posting someone else's intellectual property, especially without even bothering to credit them for their work, is enough to get someone ostracized or even outright banned.
/-/oolie
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people. | |
Posted by Goste
You're probably right that this will also happen here eventually. I did the same hike with the same disappointment! I was so angry!!!! I hate to see a plaque explaining "what used to be there" after they demoed it on purpose to make it safe for the public, completely ignoring our historic past!
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I share your sadness & disgust, but keep in-mind the powers that be made the decision to demolish the structures because there were too many instances of "the public" going up there & doing something stupid -- vandalizing, scrap-metal stealing, partying(alcohol & bonfires), etc. If some asshole hikes up there with a can of spraypaint and writes something particularly "offensive," the property owners are then compelled to remove that ASAP, once it's brought to their attention, because if they don't, they'll have all-sorts of politically-correct people coming out of the woodwork claiming they're suffering mental anguish & physical pain, and that the government is negligent because they didn't immediately go up there & remove it. And because it's the government, they can't just say "Shaddup, you little snowflake!" & wait for some annual trek up there to clean the place.
Simply having the structures means that the NPS has to patrol the area more frequently than if there were no structures, and that takes the LE Ranger away from other areas with more visitation and thus needing more patrols (Fort Funston, for example). So sadly, it makes perfect sense for the NPS to have had the structures remove after succesfuly making the argument that other Nike IFC sites were more intact, and thus there was no special, historic significance to Sweeney. I'm frustrated too, but at our society, not NPS.
https://www.atlaso...missile-site-sf-51
https://historysmc...pdf/La%20Peninsula,%20Nike%20Missle%20Areas,%20Summer%202012,%20ONLINE.pdf
/-/ooligan
P.S. By the way, Sweeney Ridge once also has a major US Coast Guard radio station, from about 1940-1970 when it moved to Point Reyes.
[last edit 5/24/2020 11:01 PM by /-/ooligan - edited 1 times]
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people. | |
NPS kicked me and a buddy out of Sweeney Ridge when we first went, but the ranger did allow me to take about 5 minutes worth of photos, in the middle of a rainstorm too. I guess he figured since we committed to the hike he may as well let me document it
http://www.flickr....rescueme1060/sets/
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I found this place with no tags back in 2019 and wanted to keep it that way as my own little secret but in the wake of corona, taggers have been more out and about and found this place on their own. Probably going to blow up soon or the Ranger Services are going to lock this place down even more than before. Surprisingly enough it was supposed to become a public park in 2016 but was delayed due to protected amphibians inhabiting the area as well as the toxic materials that rocket fuel releases when burnt.
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I don't see any graffiti in your pictures, how bad is it now? I think I saw like one or two things when I was there but that's it (I distinctly remember Kyle being written somewhere).
But anyway RIP, that's fucking sad to hear. I love this place, both my initial trip and my follow trip are some of the most memorable explorations I've done just because of how cool it was to trek in. I was planning on going back with bikes to explore more of the former grounds (I did it last time and it was really fun and made getting around way easier), hopefully it's still accessible then.
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I accidentally put this site on blast a year ago or so when I first posted on this forum and asked if anyone knew more about what this place was. I visited since then and meant to post a proper thread about it but never got around to doing it, might as well dump a few photos here now.
It's crazy how different the area feels in the winter/early spring vs in the summer, I would definitely recommend doing both if you haven't yet.
FIRST VISIT PICS:
Here's a picture of the site from when we first went in. Super foggy, with clouds of mist everywhere:
The border fence looks super menacing in this weather:
SECOND VISIT PICS:
Both times we visited, the cows were acting super shifty towards us. Pretty sure they're secretly on company payroll to guard the site. Here's a picture of them lining up in a spooky way to block our path:
Nice and yellow hills in the summer. Incredibly fun to ride, but don't forget sunblock like me or you'll have a BAD time afterwards. Here's a pic of me on my bike taking in the view:
Looks like someone is missing a few large bones.
Found the culprit.
Last time we noticed that there were some crazy acoustics in the main rocket stand, so we brought a speaker this time to play some rocket sounds and songs for fun. Here's a link to a short vid my friend took from inside the structure while we played space oddity, I really like the way he framed it.
https://imgur.com/m94I5UX
What a goddamn beauty.
She's a tall one too. Got some rebar starting to show.
[last edit 5/29/2020 8:51 PM by WhiteAlbin0 - edited 3 times]
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Posted by RescueMe1060
NPS kicked me and a buddy out of Sweeney Ridge when we first went, but the ranger did allow me to take about 5 minutes worth of photos, in the middle of a rainstorm too. I guess he figured since we committed to the hike he may as well let me document it
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SO It's been at-least a decade since I was last there, but I'm trying to figure out why an NPS Ranger would have told someone to leave Sweeney Ridge?
https://www.nps.gov/goga/sweeney.htm
/-/oolie
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people. | |
Made the trek out there, most of the land near the facility is a new public park, but sadly the trail that takes you right up was closed. So my friends and I had to take a long route to reach the facility. It is huge, but wow those cows were creepy af.
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Posted by ghosthunter1234
Made the trek out there, most of the land near the facility is a new public park, but sadly the trail that takes you right up was closed. So my friends and I had to take a long route to reach the facility. It is huge, but wow those cows were creepy af.
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Send the photos when you can!
-Kabes | |
Posted by Goste
Hopefully it's not something that gets demoed to have a "safe" park.
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It's really annoying to know the cost of demolishing military grade concrete just to keep people safe.
An armed society, is a polite society. So lets get to it! | |
Posted by big dave
It's really annoying to know the cost of demolishing military grade concrete just to keep people safe.
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Yes, but it's cheaper than lawsuits I guess.
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people. |
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