TMIOBY PH-32 Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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The Missiles In Our Back Yards (TMIOBY) Cache series revealing the hidden Cold War remnants in our backyards.
Visit the main page "GC3V4NE TMIOBY" for more details and a list of all the caches in the series.
Remember to write down the coordinate provided with each cache to find the final
PH-32 (launch Site) Marlton_Philadelphia was one of the cities protected by the Nike program. The city was surrounded by a ring of 12 Nike bases built during the mid-late 1950's to replace a ring of AAA sites. One of the bases was located in Marlton, NJ. The Marlton base was designated PH 32, the 'PH' standing for Philadelphia Defense Area and the '32' meaning the base was 32 degrees Southeast of City Hall in Philadelphia. The Marlton base was built in early 1955, over 38 acres of the Phillips Farm on the East side of Tomlinson Mill Road between Elmwood and Taunton Lake Roads. The Control Area, the only visible portion to passerby, was along Tomlinson Mill Road. The Launch Area was 1/2 mile back from Tomlinson Mill connected by an access roadway. The area surrounding the base was farmland. The units assigned to the Marlton base were... 738th Artillery, 1955-9/58 3rd Battalion 43d Artillery, 9/58-10/60 2nd Battalion 254th Artillery (NJ National Guard), 10/60-3/63 The Marlton base was activated July 1, 1955, housing Nike-Ajax missles. Most Nike bases contained three magazines, however the Marlton base contained two. At different times the base housed 16 to 20 missiles. Only five bases in the Philadelphia area were converted to house the Nike-Hercules missiles, since less bases were needed with this more advanced model. The Marlton base was not one of those upgraded and was deactivated, along with the remaining US Ajax-only bases, in 1963......................................................................................................The Base's Second Cold War Use Later in 1963, the base was sold to Burlington County for $32,000 and was converted into the Burlington County Civil Defense Center. This gave the base a second Cold War use as Civil Defense was a means from protecting the population from a nuclear enemy attack. The underground missile magazines were converted into the Center's Emergency Operating Center, which would have been the nerve center of CD functions in the event of an ememy attack. The Control Area was used mainly by local organizations and for County storage. Later in the 1960's, the County's Fire and Police academy was also located at the Civil Defense center-using the Launch Area barrack as a school, the missile fueling area for a target range and the water works area as a fire and rescue training area. The Base's Decline Development began to approach the site in the early 1970's, making it less suitable for public safety training and the site was abandoned in 1972. The County had a plan to convert the site into a minimum-security work release prison, however the plan was rejected by local residents. The County had offered to sell the property to Evesham Township, which desired the site for a municipal complex and recreation area, for $142,000 in 1973. The Township declined the offer and a price could not be agreed upon. In a controversial move, the Township planned to rezone the site from residential to public parks and recreation which would lower the value of the property and force the County to lower the price. The County threatened legal action on what it felt was spot zoning. By this time the base fell into poor condition. The County held an auction in December, 1973 to sell the property. Only two bids were received, the winning bid from developer Ray Silverstien for $145,000. In January, 1974 the County rejected the bid and withdrew the auction. The County felt it could receive a higher bid at an auction held at a later time after the controversy and confusion over the site died down and blamed the low turnout on this. However, Silverstien eventually purchased the site from the County. The funds from the sale were used to build the current Public Safety Center in Westampton. Silverstein had planned to build a housing development, Spring Run, over the Control Area and donate the Launch Area for a school site. All the buildings at the base were demolished in late 1977 after the development won approval from the Township. However, Silverstein failed to begin construction within two years and the Township withdrew its approval and development plans were dropped............. In the late 1980's the base, as well as most other former Nike sites, underwent testing for soil contamination. The levels of contamination were found to be below what would be considerd a health hazard at the Marlton site. Low levels of Petroleum Hydrocarbons were detected at the Launch site.
Current Conditions
Control Site
Location: Approximatly where Tory Ln & Patrick Henry Drv are located within the Briarwood housing development
Condition: Obliterated. Site has been razed and property converted into the Briarwood housing development
Remaining structure: Nothing remains
Launch Site
Location: Wooded section behind Briarwood housing development
Condition: Abandoned. Site has been razed
Remaining structure: Launch elevators are still in place with underground support areas, doors welded shut. Cylindrical concrete structures are part of water treatment plant. Two nestling comma shaped berms where the missiles were refueled. If an explosion occurred they would direct the blast upward protecting the base
Thanks to: John S. Flack Jr (visit link)
Additional Hints
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Treasures
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