place

Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar Annex

Aerospace Defense Command military installationsCold War military computer systems of the United StatesEarly computersInstallations of the United States Air Force in MichiganMilitary installations closed in 1968
Military installations established in 1956National Register of Historic Places in Allegan County, MichiganRadar equipment of the Cold WarRadar stations of the United States Air ForceSemi-Automatic Ground Environment sitesUse American English from January 2024Vacuum tube computers
21 07 05 JK 1531 Aerial view of annex grounds 900x675
21 07 05 JK 1531 Aerial view of annex grounds 900x675

The Saugatuck Gap Filler Annex (ADC ID: P-67C, NORAD ID: Z-67C, Z-34G) is a decommissioned radar installation that once served in the vast Cold War era Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense system. Of the hundreds of SAGE radars, Saugatuck's is one of, perhaps, two that remain nearly completely intact. Located immediately across the Kalamazoo River from Saugatuck, Michigan, at the top of Mount Baldhead, a 230-foot dune on the shore of Lake Michigan, the annex was positioned to fill gaps in the coverage of long-range "heavy" radars sited further inland. The heavy radars searched for attacking Soviet bombers but were unable to detect aircraft flying low to the west of the dunes along Lake Michigan. Saugatuck's original AN/FPS-14 radar was commissioned in mid-1958 and operated until it was replaced with a more capable AN/FPS-18 in 1963. The FPS-18 radar served continuously until the site was decommissioned early in 1968. The city of Saugatuck purchased the building, tower, and radar equipment from the Air Force in 1969. Today, the installation appears very much as it did when operational with virtually all of the Cold War-era electronic equipment still in place. The Saugatuck Gap Filler Annex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022, and efforts are underway by a work group commissioned by the city of Saugatuck to stabilize the site and secure funding for further preservation and restoration.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar Annex (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar Annex
North Woods Trail,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar AnnexContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 42.661388888889 ° E -86.209166666667 °
placeShow on map

Address

Doppler Radar Dome

North Woods Trail
49453
Michigan, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

21 07 05 JK 1531 Aerial view of annex grounds 900x675
21 07 05 JK 1531 Aerial view of annex grounds 900x675
Share experience

Nearby Places

Kalamazoo River
Kalamazoo River

The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is 130 miles (210 km) long from the junction of its North and South branches to its mouth at Lake Michigan, with a total length extending to 178 miles (286 km) when one includes the South Branch. The river's watershed drains an area of approximately 2,020 square miles (5,200 km2) and drains portions of ten counties in southwest Michigan: Allegan, Barry, Eaton, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Jackson, Hillsdale, Kent and Ottawa. The river has a median flow of 1,863 cubic feet per second (52.8 m3/s) at New Richmond, upstream from its mouth at Saugatuck and Douglas. The north and south branches of the Kalamazoo River originate within a few miles of each other. The south branch begins near North Adams in Moscow Township in northeastern Hillsdale County and flows north and west through Homer before joining the north branch at the forks of the Kalamazoo River in Albion. The North Branch begins near Farwell and Pine Hills lakes in southern Jackson County and flows north and west through Concord before reaching Albion in Calhoun County. It then flows through Kalamazoo and Allegan counties. After Albion, the Kalamazoo flows mostly westward through Marshall, Battle Creek, Augusta, Galesburg, Comstock, and Kalamazoo. From Kalamazoo, the river flows mostly north until just before it reaches Plainwell and then flows northwest through Otsego, Allegan, Saugatuck and then into Lake Michigan. Some of the larger tributaries of the Kalamazoo are Rice Creek, Wilder Creek, Wabascon Creek, Battle Creek River, Augusta Creek, Portage Creek, Gun River, Swan Creek, and Rabbit River.