Ellsworth Air Force Base, Mess Hall & Administration Building, 1301 Ellsworth Street, Blackhawk, Meade County, SD

Significance: The Mess Hall and Administration Building (Building No. 1211) is one of at least four men's mess halls constructed at the base during the early 1950s; all are of a similar configuration, and are probably of standard Strategic Air Command design. The buildings were constructed simultaneously with and adjacent to groups of SAC-type airmen dormitories. All were remodeled for new functions as central replacement dining facilities were constructed. This is one of two such buildings constructed in 1951-52 by the H&B Construction Company, a joint venture of two Rapid City construction firms. The mess halls were built next to a block of seventeen dormitory-style airmen's barracks (1951), together providing the base with modern housing to supplement its World War II era barracks. It represents Ellsworth's significant growth in both size and function during the Cold War era. Ellsworth, one of the Air Force's major bomber bases at that time, served as a repository of a larger portion of the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal, and became home to a nuclear missile wing.

Survey number: HABS SD-21-P

Building/structure dates: 1952 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: ca. 1986 Subsequent Work

administration buildings mess halls post and beam structures standardization military art and science communal living cold war eating and drinking blackhawk ellsworth ellsworth air force base mess mess hall administration ellsworth street meade meade county air force south dakota lee geiger bill groethe h and b construction company historic american buildings survey rebecca kumar wayne rosby us air force us army corps of engineers united construction company photo ultra high resolution high resolution air force base library of congress

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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