Protecting America: National Historic Landmark (NHL) Cold War Theme Study

Protecting America: Cold War Defensive Sites, a theme study released in October 2022 by the National Historic Landmarks (NHL) Program, focuses on the Cold War-era sites and properties created to defend America in the second half of the twentieth century.

The historic context portion of the study examines the Cold War chronologically from the detonation of the first two atomic bombs and Japanese surrender in 1945 at the end of World War II to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, America’s principal nuclear adversary, in 1991. It examines how the international affairs and the political and military challenges of the Cold War-era influenced the weapons systems and defense programs of the United States.

Currently, 17 Cold War-related resources have been designated as National Historic Landmarks. These include military sites such as Air Force Facility Missile Site 8 Military Reservation in Pima County, Arizona, now operated as the Titan Missile Museum, the White Sands V-2 rocket launching test site in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, and the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, now located in Groton, Connecticut.

The Ground Alert Facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho represents an outstanding surviving example of a Strategic Air Command (SAC) bomber alert complex, an important SAC combat capability in the event of an attack from the Soviet Union.

NPS - National Historic Landmarks Program

The Cold War’s political history is represented by NHLs such as Westminster College Gymnasium in Fulton, Missouri, where former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his famous “Iron Curtain” speech, and Freedom Tower in Miami, Florida which housed Cuban refugees starting in 1962. In addition to those existing ones, the theme study includes a study list of 24 possible new NHLs, including the Strategic Air Command Ground Alert Facility at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho, which was designed to have refueling planes and nuclear armed bombers in the air fifteen or fewer minutes after receiving a warning of incoming Soviet missiles.

Beyond discussion of potential new Cold War NHLs, the context here and in other NHL theme studies can inform nominations for the National Register of Historic Places or other historical studies. Learn more about the recent theme studies on the National Historic Landmarks Program website.