Marriott Hill Transmitter Site
Cold War Caching Series #8
During the Cold War secure global communications were paramount.
To that end the Department of Defense set up several transmitter
and receiver sites around the country.
Very little information is available about activities at this
facility during the Cold War, but we know it was active during that
period and it would have played an integral role had the two
superpowers decided to unleash the nuclear genie. We also know it
was one of the sites in the DC area charged with maintaining
communications to the Presidential yacht Sequoia, as it cruised the
waterways of the Washington, DC area.
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Presidential yacht Sequoia
This AT&T memorandum from 1971 discusses the need for two
additional radio base stations to serve the Presidential yacht and
its support vessel:
More recently the station was shut down and taken over by
Verizon and is being used as a cell phone site. The buildings are
sealed and large "DANGER ASBESTOS, LUNG DISEASE HAZARD" signs have
been affixed to the outside of the buildings.
The Cache
The cache is a camouflaged spice jar. To get to the cache you
will have to drive right next to a privately owned home. The owner
is aware of the cache and suggested the location.
