Nice Storage Center has an interesting history. Our facility was formerly a U.S. Army Nike missile base.
The Nike surface-to-air Hercules missile was developed during the Cold War to destroy enemy bombers and enemy bomber formations. It could be fitted with either a nuclear W31 type warhead, or a conventional T-45 fragmenting warhead. The missile shown here is 41 feet 6 inches long with a wingspan of 6 feet 2 inches. By April 1974, when it became apparent that the greatest threat to the U.S. was from missiles instead of bombers, most Nike Hercules units were deactivated.
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There were four Nike missile sites surrounding the Twin Cities, including ours on the East side. Our facility was operational from 1962 to 1972 and stationed up to 200 men.
