Silos of New York

In the early 1960s, Cold War fever was sweeping across America. Yuri Gagarin had gone to space, missiles were rolling into Cuba and in the halls of power, there was the growing fear that the dominoes would soon fall.

Around this time, the US began constructing missile silos around the country to counter the burgeoning Soviet threat. Among these silos were the “Atlas F,” the sixth iteration of the Atlas ICBM. The Atlas F silos reached 174 feet underground with a 1,500-ton launch platform designed to carry an 85-foot missile. Connected to the silos via a 15-foot tunnel was the Launch Control Center (LCC). It was here that the crews lived and worked and here that, should the call have ever come, they would carry out the task of launching a nuclear missile.

Most of the Atlas F sites were located in the Midwest, but 12 were constructed in the Northeast, forming a sort of protective ring around Plattsburgh Air Force base.

Dogged by technical problems, many of these silos were taken off alert and fully decommissioned within a few years. Following their closure, most of them were sold of to salvagers and left to decay.

That probably would have been the end of the story had people like Alexander Michael not intervened.

An industrial architect and interior designer from Australia, Michael was inspired to purchase a silo after hearing of someone in Kansas who’d been living in one. A short time later, he got word that Site 5 of the 556th Strategic Missile Squadron in Lewis, NY was up for sale and he jumped at the chance.

Twelve years on, the renovation of the silo continues. The Launch Control Center has been completely refurbished, but work on the silo itself has only just begun.


In July, Alex was gracious enough to let us tour his underground home. This is what we found…



Michael is just one of the many silo enthusiasts who have purchased these crumbling giants of the nuclear age and begun to restore them. Though the mission today is a far different one, there is life inside the Atlas silos again, and its new residents are helping to ensure that their stories, and their legacy, will not be forgotten.

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Many thanks to Alexander Michael for his allowing us total access to his home. To learn more about the continued renovations at Site 5, head over to www.siloboy.com.

Thanks also to Gary at www.siloworld.com and David at www.atlasmissilesilo.com for the incredible archival photos seen in the video. Head over to their sites to learn everything there is to know about the Atlas Missile program!