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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Lumberton and the Cold War

     Do you remember the days of air raid drills?  As elementary school kids, we assembled in the auditorium and lined up along the walls facing the cinder blocks.  We folded our arms, leaned against the wall, and placed our heads on our folded forearms.  This must have been the Hainesport variation of the duck-under-the-desk move.
     Do you remember these signs?



     Placer High School in Auburn, California discovered a fully stocked air raid shelter during recent renovations to the school's weight room.  Evidently, the powers that were thought people would need toilet paper, crackers, and water in the event of nuclear disaster.  There doesn't seem to be much more in the shelter's larder.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/sacramentocbs13-15751210/preserved-cold-war-bomb-shelter-discovered-at-placer-high-school-29757207.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fsacramentocbs13-15751210%252Fpreserved-cold-war-bomb-shelter-discovered-at-placer-high-school-29757207.html

     Those crackers brought an old memory to the surface.  I remember my father bringing home several cans of stale crackers in the 1970's.  Somehow, he had gotten hold of them because the Nike base, located on Eayrestown Road in Lumberton, was being deactivated.  The government's trash became snacks for our chickens.
     The Lumberton base was one of twelve bases that surrounded and provided protection for the cities of Camden and Philadelphia.  The base at Lumberton was unique because it was one of two dual installations that could, in the event of a nuclear attack, track and engage two targets simultaneously.  Today, some parts of the Nike base serves as Lumberton township offices.  You can even place advertisements on the missile tower.

A sign for Sam's Lawn Service.  Photo courtesy of merchantcircle.com.

     This site contains some very interesting pictures.  http://flickriver.com/photos/42444189@N04/sets/72157624526917061/
     Here's some more info: http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/PH25.html
     And:  http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/N-A-lumberton.html  
         


1 comment:

  1. Oh, the memories this brings back! Do you remember the subterranean passage between the old kindergarten building and the main school building? Didn't we have these air raid drills down there sometimes? I seem to remember lining up, and leaning against the wall with our heads on our folded arms. Your blog brought it all back!

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