Posted: 9/15/2009 9:36:54 PM EDT
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Just did the drive to Vegas and back, first time for me. There is a huge facility and I was wondering if you could shed some light on what they all are
There are a bunch of buildings sunk into the ground. I thought I saw a sign that said ammo dump so I figured they were bunkers of some sort. There are also a ton of buildings that look like storage. I didnt see a sole anywhere so storage seemed logical. Also what the hell does the Naval Undersea Warfare Center practice in the desert??? Thanks guys |
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I think the story was that way back like in the 30's or something there was a bad explosion in an ammo storage facility on the east coast. They decided to move it out here because the area is so desolate. I'll have to look at Wiki to see if I got it right. Interesting town.
ETA: I copied this off the Hawthorne website. Founded in 1881 as a division point on the Carson & Colorado Railroad, Hawthorne's site was selected by the mules used by the work crews to grade the right-of-way. Turned loose to forage for themselves in the winter, they found the most sheltered spot on the valley to protect themselves from the freezing wind. The humans had the wisdom to accept their critters' advice, and Hawthorne was established in this favored location in the valley. Hawthorne became the Esmeralda County seat in 1883, replacing Aurora where the mines were in deep decline. Hawthorne's growth was hardly meteoric; the 1890 census taker counted 337 residents in town. By 1900, when the Southern Pacific acquired the C & C, there were only 99 more. In 1905 the SP changed over to standard gauge and bypassed Hawthorne completely by going around the east side of Walker Lake. The railroad built a new terminal at Mina and in 1907 the booming mining city of Goldfield took the Esmeralda County seat away. But mining discoveries in the vicinity helped maintain Hawthorne's prosperity through the hard times, and by 1910 the population had actually increased by 35 people. In 1911, State Senator Fred Balzar of Hawthorne was able to persuade his fellow legislators that Esmeralda County was too large. Mineral County was created from its northern part with Hawthorne as its seat, and the old Court House was put back into service. But mining fell off again after World War I, and in 1920 only 226 residents were hanging on. Mina, meanwhile, with its mining and busy railroad, had grown to 680. In 1926 half of Hawthorne's business district burned down, but even this was not enough to kill the tough little town. And finally Hawthorne had some luck. Lake Denmark, New Jersey, was blown off the face of the earth by a huge explosion at the naval ammunition depot there, and Congress wanted to find some less valuable real estate for the new one. After a nationwide search, Hawthorne was the choice, the Yucca Mountain of its time. The following progression illustrates the result through World War II: 1930 pop.: 680 1940 pop.: 1,009 1944 pop.: 13,000 1950 pop.: 1,861 With more than 7,000 armed forces and civilian workers at the arsenal during the war, Hawthorne was the busiest Nevada boomtown in a generation. By 1950 nearly 2,500 people still lived in government housing at nearby Babbitt, but even as the Korean War broke out, the boom was over. Growth since has been slow, and today the ammunition depot plays a diminishing role in Hawthorne's economy, although its bunkers still pimple the desert as they have for more than 75 years. The Gulf War brought more good times to Hawthorne, and the base — now under civilian management — is bulging more than ever with munitions. In 1984, after nearly 50 years without a major mishap, one of the storage bunkers exploded. The blast was contained as intended, blowing up instead of out, and the deeply feared chain-reaction causing immense damage and loss of life did not occur. In the early 1990s a bunker detonated for no discernible cause, unless it was provoked by a lightning storm the previous day. |
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Quoted: Just did the drive to Vegas and back, first time for me. There is a huge facility and I was wondering if you could shed some light on what they all are There are a bunch of buildings sunk into the ground. I thought I saw a sign that said ammo dump so I figured they were bunkers of some sort. There are also a ton of buildings that look like storage. I didnt see a sole anywhere so storage seemed logical. Also what the hell does the Naval Undersea Warfare Center practice in the desert??? Thanks guys Did you miss the big ass lake there?  |
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Just did the drive to Vegas and back, first time for me. There is a huge facility and I was wondering if you could shed some light on what they all are There are a bunch of buildings sunk into the ground. I thought I saw a sign that said ammo dump so I figured they were bunkers of some sort. There are also a ton of buildings that look like storage. I didnt see a sole anywhere so storage seemed logical. Also what the hell does the Naval Undersea Warfare Center practice in the desert??? Thanks guys Did you miss the big ass lake there?
There was a lake!!!!! 
I figured it was just more SEAL training ground because they come up here some too. Undersea to me means you put shit underwater(IE Submarines and stuff) The lake didnt look like it would accommodate a sub very well Focker 
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Just did the drive to Vegas and back, first time for me. There is a huge facility and I was wondering if you could shed some light on what they all are There are a bunch of buildings sunk into the ground. I thought I saw a sign that said ammo dump so I figured they were bunkers of some sort. There are also a ton of buildings that look like storage. I didnt see a sole anywhere so storage seemed logical. Also what the hell does the Naval Undersea Warfare Center practice in the desert??? Thanks guys Did you miss the big ass lake there? There was a lake!!!!! I figured it was just more SEAL training ground because they come up here some too. Undersea to me means you put shit underwater(IE Submarines and stuff) The lake didnt look like it would accommodate a sub very well Focker  I know they have been up in the region more and more along with the Marines training for Afghanistan. That area is damn near identical to NV. |
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I like Hawthorne. It's a patriotic little town that's not ashamed of the primary business.
Next time, take the main road through town, not the bypass, and there's a small munitions museum in the middle of town. Great stuff. You can also buy a 20mm dummy round (a turned solid, not a demilled component piece) for $5 that goes towards the museum's upkeep. Best, JBR |
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I like Hawthorne. It's a patriotic little town that's not ashamed of the primary business. Next time, take the main road through town, not the bypass, and there's a small munitions museum in the middle of town. Great stuff. You can also buy a 20mm dummy round (a turned solid, not a demilled component piece) for $5 that goes towards the museum's upkeep. Best, JBR I will keep that in mind next time I roll through Thanks |
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I like Hawthorne. It's a patriotic little town that's not ashamed of the primary business. Next time, take the main road through town, not the bypass, and there's a small munitions museum in the middle of town. Great stuff. You can also buy a 20mm dummy round (a turned solid, not a demilled component piece) for $5 that goes towards the museum's upkeep. Best, JBR I will keep that in mind next time I roll through Thanks As will I, thanks for the heads up! |
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Like everyone says, it's a really big, old depot (I once read somewhere that it was the second largest ammo depot in the world at once point, no doubt the Chinese have it beat by now). There used to be very very nice military grounds at the HQ location, classic architecture and landscaping, you really felt like you were somewhere else when all the brass still lived there. It's all pretty much trashed at this point, there are hardly any .mil people onsite for a base that large. The security/logistics has been civi for a long, long time now. I knew a few old-timers from Hawthorne that had been employed in the assembly buildings de-milling surplus/old ammunition, made me sick to hear about it.
Nowadays they have creatively turned the base into an opportunity to do a lot of various training for small groups. Besides the Navy, the Marines from the MWTC are there a lot, and there is a whole mountainous terrain sniping course associated with Rocket Mountain on the north side of the base. Probably a lot of other stuff I've never heard about. Check the base out on Google Earth - over 200 sq mi of railroad tracks, storage bunkers, assembly buildings and loading bunker facilities. There is the public "range" mentioned on the southeast end of town, but there is also a 1000yd+ range on the northwest end of town that is military, but used by locals sometimes, obviously permission is needed. |
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There is another thread going right now about Dutch Royal Marines training on rocket mountain.
My brother in law was NavSpecWar (MarkV driver) and they would show up on short notice and ask if they could crash at our house in Wellington off and on while they trained there. He told me the conditions in that area and on that lake mimic nicely the Persian Gulf. I believe that SOCSMG has a training facility in the area as well. All in all, Hawthorne is a wonderful town filled with great Americans. They are proud of their heritage and fly the flag all the time. there was a big drive to save the town when the ammo depot was slated for closure. |
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Just did the drive to Vegas and back, first time for me. There is a huge facility and I was wondering if you could shed some light on what they all are There are a bunch of buildings sunk into the ground. I thought I saw a sign that said ammo dump so I figured they were bunkers of some sort. There are also a ton of buildings that look like storage. I didnt see a sole anywhere so storage seemed logical. Also what the hell does the Naval Undersea Warfare Center practice in the desert??? Thanks guys Did you miss the big ass lake there?
There was a lake!!!!!
I figured it was just more SEAL training ground because they come up here some too. Undersea to me means you put shit underwater(IE Submarines and stuff) The lake didnt look like it would accommodate a sub very well Focker
I know they have been up in the region more and more along with the Marines training for Afghanistan. That area is damn near identical to NV. Yeah, that area is so incredibly like Nevada, we actually call it Hawthorne, NV. 
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Mind your speed going through there.
Or you'll fall prey to the "Mineral County Shakedown". The sheriff's dept doesn't even have a website it's a Myspace page that gives you spam. I got a ticket for 4 miles over...but no points, no DMV record, nada...had to pay it by a money order and mail it in. The cop looked like Joe-shit-the-Ragman, too...polo shirt with crumpled collar, holster flapping against his leg, etc. |