Caribou Air Force Station
Caribou Air Force Station was the first of five, United States Air Force, Air Material Command (AMC) installations that were constructed during the period of 1951 – 1953. Each of the five installations was built specifically to provide operational storage of the nuclear stockpile, and to provide a specified number of weapons to their adjacent Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases. The first four installations were built and occupied by 1953. The fifth installation, although completed in 1953, would not be utilized until 1955. The first installation, code named “Site Easy” was originally known as the “North River Depot”. It was constructed between 1951-1952, and operations began in 1952. Funds were provided in 1951 to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), for the planning and construction of an ordnance storage site in the vicinity of a new Strategic Air Command Base. The AFSWP was directed to utilize the services of the Corps of Engineers, Department of Army, for planning and construction, and was made responsible for monitoring such work, and for operational security measures during these phases. The original directive to the AFSWP stipulated that upon completion of construction the installation would be turned over to Headquarters, Air Material Command for operational responsibilities.
Caribou Air Force Station
A spur track on Government-owned property and constructed at Government expense, extended from the adjacent SAC base over a distance of about four miles to the nearest town, where it connected with the main civilian railroad system. One of the secondary spurs, which branched off of the main spur between the SAC base and the nearby town, led to an unloading area, which was used only for the handling of weapons. This loading point was reached by the twenty-two foot wide asphalt paved highway which extended for a distance of approximately 3600 feet between the site entrance gate and the rail loading point. Building No. 400 was the Railhead Station. It was constructed of concrete block, and was razed sometime in the late 1980s. The overall Service Area, comprising the various functions of site maintenance and service, was strategically located in close proximity to the main entrance gate, and to the Administration and Storage Areas. The Service Area, situated southeast of the Administrative Area and outside of the maximum-security area, was the center of station maintenance, repair, and service. The Civil Engineering Division Area, or the former Installations Engineer Maintenance Area, was located near the Warehouse and Supply Building, and near the Motor Pool. The Maintenance Area, in which Building No. 106 was the principal structure, was well located with reference to the facilities that it served, although it was in the same fenced area with the Motor Pool and the Warehouse and Supply Building. Two permanent, warehouse-type buildings housed the Civil Engineering Division facilities, administrative offices, drafting room, blue print room, and separate shops for carpentry, heating, plumbing, welding, painting and electrical work. Two dormitory rooms were used by the Civil Engineering Division forces for the housing of testing equipment for water purification. A small, separate building housed equipment used by the roads and grounds crew. A shed-type building was used for the storage of lumber. Two permanent-type buildings (numbered 109 and 110) were used as warm storage sheds where temperatures in winter were kept to a 40-degree minimum. One was known as the General Purpose Building, while the other was called the Special Purpose Building. These buildings housed materials handling equipment, 6x6 trucks, snowplow equipment, and motorized equipment used on roads and grounds, in addition to vehicles assigned to the Motor Pool. A small building in the Maintenance Area housed stocks of paints, oils and lubricants.