Built in 1951 as a response to the Russians testing their first atomic bomb, the North Truro Air Force Station became one of the first radar listening stations to monitor for Soviet bombers. The station was decommissioned in 1994 upon the end of the Cold War and most of the land was sold to the National Park Service as part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. The grounds are still open to the public and the Park Service conducts regular guided tours.
The station now is a collection of dilapidated barracks, officers’ quarters, technical buildings and offices, as well as a bar and a bowling alley. The concrete pads that serve as bases for the radar dishes are still in the ground but the radar dishes themselves have been disassembled. A few buildings have been renovated such as the library and a classroom building however nearly all of the other buildings contain asbestos and mold and are too hazardous to enter.
The “neighborhoods” of family housing have been mostly untouched since they were built in the 50’s and since the exteriors are made of weather-resistant asbestos tiles, they’re likely to remain so. The grounds for the most part remained uncared for, probably for health reasons. This area is basically frozen time and would make a perfect outdoor movie set for some post-apocalyptic thriller.
Though mostly empty, the grounds are now home to the Payomet Performing Arts Center, an atmospheric research lab as well as National Park Service facilities.
