Military History in your Own Backyard by Jim Shneer

Military History in your Own Backyard

by Jim Shneer

The grounds surrounding Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall are the richest source on the hill for exploring the remnants of local military history. Three eras of weapons systems facilities built by the Army between the 1920s and the mid-1970s may be discovered in a casual walk around the area. The Army's original name for this site was the Long Point Military Reservation.

The area surrounding Rancho Palos Verdes city hall (Wikimapia - creative commons license)

The earliest remains are the six observation sites positioned on the hillside above Palos Verdes Drive South overlooking the Terranea Resort (in the lower left corner of the photo). These concrete structures, known as base end stations, were manned by observers whose job it was to telephone the precise position of approaching enemy ships to the six batteries of 14" guns and 12" mortars located at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro.

Base end station looking up from a nearby trail (author's collection)

Looking down at Terranea from above a base end station (author's collection)

West of city hall is Battery Barnes, the concrete battery built during WWII to protect the ammunition for the two 6" guns located adjacent to it from naval gun fire, as well as to provide a communication center for the battery commander to receive ship location information from newer base end stations built to support it.

Looking toward Battery Barnes from the remaining 6" gun emplacement (author's collection)

The author in front of Battery Barnes' main entrance (author's collection)

Battery Barnes' main entrance (author's collection)

And lastly, the current Rancho Palos Verdes city yard was the location of the LA-55 Nike missile launch site, one of about 20 surrounding the Los Angeles basin. These sites existed from the mid-1950s until 1974 and were the United States' first line of defense against the threat of a nuclear attack by Soviet bombers. These sites were originally equipped with conventionally-armed Nike Ajax missiles. These were later replaced by nuclear-armed Nike Hercules missiles, one of which could eliminate a bomber squadron. This site is arguably the best preserved, but not restored, Nike launch facility remaining.

Within it, one can see the covered underground magazines where the missiles were stored, the missile assembly building, the power substation and the entry control "shack" and other artifacts.

Missile magazine covers

Entrance to the missile assembly building

The city hall building itself was used as the administration center for LA-55. The radars and antennas for controlling the missiles were located at what is now Del Cerro Park and nothing there remains. On June 27, 2020, the docents of Los Serenos de Point Vicente will be conducting a free docent lead guided tour of these facilities. For the details please visit http://www.losserenos.org/ and scroll down to the 2020 tours page.

Jim Sheer

Jim is a former aerospace engineering manager who, since retiring, has become an author and speaker on a variety of military subjects. To read more about his work, please visit https://easyreadernews.com/the-battle-that-didnt-happen/. To learn about the military history of Fort MacArthur and Palos Verdes, please visit http://www.lulu.com/shop/james-shneer/exploring-the- military-history-of-fort-macarthur-and-palos-verdes/paperback/product-23784472.html to purchase a copy of his recent book. Jim will autograph copies for those who bring them to the June tour.