Throughout most of the 20th century, the United States was involved in a struggle with the Soviet Union for global supremacy, a geopolitical tension that pitted the Western and Eastern blocs against each other. Known as the Cold War, this dangerous rivalry between two world powers began in 1947 and presented as a dangerous arms race and included several proxy wars fought in South America, Asia, and Africa.
More than once during this period, disagreements pushed the world to the brink of nuclear Armageddon. After decades fraught with tension, the Cold War finally came to an end in late 1989 when President George H.W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev declared it over. This was followed by the reunification of Germany and by 1991, the Soviet Union had dissolved, creating 15 independent nations. (Read these myths about Cold War America.)
The wars fought by the United States have taken place in various locations and often include battlefields, cemeteries, forts, and ships and are typically designated as historically significant and preserved by the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP), a division of the National Parks Service. However, the Cold War is an exception. Not a war in the typical sense, there are comparatively few traditional historical sites around the country associated with this ideological conflict. But there are some.
To find the must-visit Cold War sites in the United States, 24/7 Tempo reviewed several sources, including the websites of the National Park Service, Smithsonian Magazine, HistoryHit, AtlasObscura, and We’re The Mighty. Our list includes sites of various types – missile silos, launch facilities, bunkers, nuclear reactors, plutonium production facilities, museums, and more, places that are either open to the public or can be viewed by scheduling a tour.
Four museums with a Cold War theme have been established: Titan Missile Museum in Arizona; The National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas; the South Dakota Air & Space Museum; and the Cold War Museum in Virginia although there are other sites of historical value as well.
The Ambassador Romuald Spasowski House in Washington, D.C., was the residence of the former Polish ambassador, who applied for political asylum in the U.S. in December 1981 and became the highest-ranking communist official to ever defect to the West. The Greenbrier Bunker, installed in one of America’s premier resorts, in West Virginia, was created to house the federal government in the event of a nuclear attack.
Here are must-visit Cold War sites in the United States
Nike Site Summit
- Where: Outside Anchorage, Alaska
- What it is: Nike-Hercules anti-aircraft missile launch site
- Designation: Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996
Titan Missile Museum
- Where: near Tucson, Arizona
- What it is: Former ICBM site (also known as Air Force Facility Missile Site 8 or Titan II ICBM Site 571-7)
- Designation: Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992
B-52 Storage Area Davis-Monthan AFB
- Where: Outside Tuscon, Arizona
- What it is: “The largest aircraft boneyard in the world”
- Designation: Limited access site
Nike Missile Site SF-88
- Where: Golden Gate National Recreation Area, north of San Francisco
- What it is: Semi-restored Nike anti-aircraft missile launch site
- Designation: part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Ambassador Romuald Spasowski House
- Where: Washington, D.C.
- What it is: Former home of the Polish ambassador, the highest-ranking communist official to defect to the West
- Designation: Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017
HM69 Nike Missile Base
- Where: Everglades National Park, Florida
- What it is: One of the best preserved Nike Hercules missile sites, also called “Alpha Battery.”
- Designation: Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004
The National Atomic Testing Museum
- Where: Las Vegas
- What it is: Museum about America’s nuclear weapons testing program at the Nevada Test Site
- Designation: History Museum
Remote Sprint Launcher #3 Missile Site
- Where: Cavalier, North Dakota
- What it is: Remote launch bunker, Nike Sprint missile replica, 16 silos field
- Designation: Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018
Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site
- Where: Cooperstown, North Dakota
- What it is: Includes Oscar-Zero, a Minuteman III missile alert facility
- Designation: State Historic Site
X-10 Graphite Reactor
- Where: Oak Ridge, Tennessee
- What it is: First nuclear production reactor in the world
- Designation: Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966
South Dakota Air & Space Museum
- Where: Box Elder, South Dakota (temporarily closed)
- What it is: Extensive collection and archive of Cold War aircraft, artifacts, and documents
- Designation: Aviation Museum
Delta-09 Missile Silo, Delta-01 Launch Control Facility
- Where: Near Wall, South Dakota
- What it is: Minuteman I & II launch facility
- Designation: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
The Cold War Museum
An air-to-air left side view of a TR-1 tactical reconnaissance aircraft.
- Where: Warrenton, Virginia
- What it is: Museum on the grounds of the former Vint Hill Farms Station, a top-secret Army signals intelligence base
- Designation: Museum in former Vint Hill Farm Station building
Hanford Site
- Where: Richland, Washington
- What it is: Decommissioned nuclear production complex
- Designation: Part of the Hanford Reach National Monument
Project Greek Island Bunker (Greenbriar Bunker)
- Where: Greenbrier Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
- What it is: Declassified top-secret relocation facility for Congress
- Designation: Once-secret bunker underneath the West Wing of the National Historic Landmark Greenbriar Hotel
Quebec-One Missile Alert Facility State Historic Park
- Where: North of Cheyenne, Wyoming (temporarily closed)
- What it is: Minuteman missile launch control facility
- Designation: Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2023