Ellsworth Air Force Base, Mess & Administration Building, 2279 Risner Drive, Blackhawk, Meade County, SD

Significance: The Mess and Aministration Building (Building No. 1101) is one of at least four enlisted men's 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. 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 large portion of the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal, and became home to a nuclear missile wing.
Survey number: HABS SD-21-S
Building/structure dates: 1954 Initial Construction