# Assabet National Wildlife Refuge - Cold War Relics



## billski (Sep 24, 2010)

I like exploring woods.  Imagine to my surprise what I found in the woods this afternoon.  
After I found the first one, I though there might be two or three. Imagine how shocked I was to find dozens of them!  I will let the cell phone pictures do the talking...


































\\


----------



## threecy (Sep 26, 2010)

Awesome shots, thank you for sharing!  Any more information on the history?


----------



## billski (Sep 27, 2010)

threecy said:


> Awesome shots, thank you for sharing! Any more information on the history?


 After being rather startled by this find, I did spend some time poking around and here's what I learned.

At the onset of World War 2, the government was looking for a place to temporarily hold munitions as they made their way in and out of Boston Harbor. It had to be safe, secure, and near a railroad line. The site selected was on the Maynard, Sudbury, Stow and Hudson lines. The residents were given 10 days to move out and construction commenced in 1942.











It was originally called the Maynard Ordinance Depot, at which they built 50 of these bunkers, all still extant. They built railroad sidings right up to the entrance of each one, as you can see in the above map. the trains would move during the night, under blackout conditions. These are fairly standard "igloo" designs, 40 feet wide and 80 feed deep, with three feet of soil on top of them. You can also find them on military reservations in the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. Every one I saw was quite intact. Some had very larger (3-foot diameter, 50-foot high trees growing atop a few!) The locals called this the "ammo dump."

After the war, U.S. Army Natick Research and Development Command took control of it, and used some of the unused lands to conduct experiments on flameproof materials and used it for waste storage and disposal. in 1982, Fort Devens took control and it was used by the Natick Labs, Mass. Firefighters Training, State Police and the Air and Army national guard. It was finally closed in 1996, with the Air Force retaining a weather station on site.

The site required substantial rehabilitation including waste removal, concertina wire removal and filling in of open water wells from the prior farm owners. The rail lines were torn up and removed. The rail lines are used as today's hiking trails. 

On October 17th, the Assabet NWR will conduct an official opening and provided guided tours of the bunkers. 
http://www.farnwr.org/events.html#Oct3


----------



## WJenness (Sep 27, 2010)

Pretty interesting stuff Bill!

I vaguely remember coming across something similar down in Wompatuck state park in Hingham, MA when I was there as a kid...

-w


----------



## WJenness (Sep 27, 2010)

According to Wikipedia, I remember correctly:



> The land was originally the property of Indian chief Josiah Wompatuck, who deeded the land to English Settlers in 1665. The park is built on the former Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot Annex (known by natives as the "Cohasset Annex"), which was in use from 1941 until 1965. It contains over 100 decommissioned military bunkers, many of which have been backfilled, but some of which remain exposed, including one which housed parts of the Navy's first nuclear depth charge in the 1950s.[1]  Several old military buildings can be found on park property as well as an extensive network of abandoned railroad. Most buildings have had their roofs and windows removed and are open to the elements.



source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wompatuck_State_Park

-w


----------



## billski (Sep 27, 2010)

WJenness said:


> According to Wikipedia, I remember correctly:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I doubt the bunkers had their roofs removed although other buildings may have. They are three feet thick of concrete. Imagine how much additional security would be necessary in today's world of terrorism.  I don't think we who didn't live through this can imagine what home life was like during that war.


----------



## WJenness (Sep 27, 2010)

billski said:


> I don't think we who didn't live through this can imagine what home life was like during that war.



I FULLY agree with this thought...

This thread has had me looking around at various WWII related sites this morning...

Here's an interesting story I stumbled across: http://www.vancouversun.com/Wartime+enemies+make+contact+years+later/3554389/story.html

-w


----------



## Beetlenut (Sep 27, 2010)

I saw bunkers just like that up in Sitka, Alaska. Which is in South East Alaska. It was fortified during the early forties. With three foot thick concrete walls, those bunkers aren't going anywhere soon. After the war was over, they told the native population that the bunkers contained chemical and biological weapons to keep them from going near them or opening them up. I found a site that chronicles the history of the war effort in Sitka, also interesting reading.
 
http://mchunter1.tripod.com/sitkaww2.html


----------



## Angus (Sep 27, 2010)

WJenness said:


> I vaguely remember coming across something similar down in Wompatuck state park in Hingham, MA when I was there as a kid...
> 
> -w



Growing up nearby Wompatuck and spending alot of time inside the park right after it was open to the public, we were always warned not to go inside those bunkers due to lingering chemicals. They were definitely a source of much interest but I sort of remember people squatting at them.


----------



## Angus (Sep 27, 2010)

Bill - Just to verify, the location of this hike was up near Devens not around Maynard, Stow, Sudbury, Hudson line.


----------



## threecy (Sep 27, 2010)

Thank you for the research, Bill...very interesting!


----------



## Johnskiismore (Oct 5, 2010)

That is really cool stuff Bill!  My uncle used to live not too far away from there!  Knew it was a military reservation (when I was a kid), but had no idea that bunkers were in there!  I'll be all over that tour!


----------



## skidmarks (Oct 19, 2010)

Very cool stuff. In Western Ma we have the nice Bare MT Bunker. Some day I'd like to tour them.


----------

