Mill Valley Air Force Station, East Ridgecrest Boulevard, Mount Tamalpais, Mill Valley, Marin County, CA

Significance: Mill Valley Air Force Station (MVAFS) played a significant role in the United States Air Defense system during the period of the Cold War. The threat of Soviet nuclear and air force power warranted the construction of early warning radar stations throughout the country. With the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent end to the Cold War, retrospective scholarship has labeled contributing defense systems, such as early warning radar, important features of United States military history. In fact, America's first major construction project as a result of Cold War hostilities was, apparently, the system of early warning radar stations of which Mill Valley Air Force Station was one. The National Park Service (NPS) leased the MVAFS in 1983. Also in the possession of the NPS is a Nike Missile Site located at Fort Barry. Together these two sites represent a major part of the air defense system utilized by the United States during the Cold War period.
Survey number: HABS CA-2615
Building/structure dates: 1951 Initial Construction