Plum Island MR: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Plum Island Station.jpg|[[File:Plum Island FC Station Locale.jpg|thumb|The hill the station was located upon.]]Plum Island Station|left|frameless|alt=Plum Island Station]]
Loc. 137A Plum Island was a WWII Fire Control site on Plum Island in Newbury MA.
[[File:Plum Island FC Station Locale.jpg|thumb|240x240px|The hill in which the station was located.]]
[[File:Plum Island Station.jpg|left|thumb|222x222px|Circa 1950s Thomas Stubbs]]
Built for Battery 103/Seamen in Rye New Hampshire this small Fire Control Station was built in 1943 under the permission of the Fish and Game Department on The Parker River Wildlife Refuge (Est. 1942). It had one observation level and an Anti-Aircraft observation Hatch. This Station was designated Location 137A. After the war it was used with explosives which the national guard would use in the early 1950s to demolish the tower. I visited this site, and it is nearly impossible to get to. You can't go from the beach because of the Piping Plover nests, so you have to go through thick trees and bushes to get there. My clothes were stained from the plants and berries. I do not recommend visiting here as one can get stuck in the bushes or get lost and there is only a little bit of rubble to see.
[[File:Plum Island FCS RCW 1943 2-2.jpg|left|frameless|271x271px]]
[[File:137A Station remains JM 3-5-25.jpg|thumb|193x193px|Remains of the station in 2025.]]
Completed in 1943 on a 1.6-acre permit (No. 43-323) from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for $4,355, this square, one-story concrete fire control station served Battery 103/Seaman at [[Fort Dearborn]]. The station was manned by eight men, six manning the azimuth instruments and two in the AAIS OP-2. Camouflage for the station was provided by tone down paint and the dune it was built on. The reinforced concrete walls were eight inches thick which deviates from the typical ten to twelve. Inside, electric power was furnished from a M5 generator and heat was provided by a cannon stove. Telephone lines from Salisbury Beach provided connection back to [[Fort Dearborn]]. After the war, the lot was returned to the Fish and Wildlife Service and was used by the Massachusetts National Guard to store explosives. Around 1953, the guard blew the station up in a training exercise. The dune the station was on is off limits, but chunks of concrete still remain in the area from its demolition. Located in the Parker Rover Wildlife Refuge. No public access.
 
=== SOURCES and REFERENCES ===
[https://cdsg.org Coast Defense Study Group]
 
[https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/Formerly-Used-Defense-Sites/ Formerly Used Defense Sites USACE]
 
HD Portsmouth Annex 1945
 
Report of Completed Works 1943
 
Gerald W. Butler
[[Category:Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth]]
[[Category:Harbor Defenses of Portsmouth]]

Latest revision as of 14:33, 21 March 2026

Loc. 137A Plum Island was a WWII Fire Control site on Plum Island in Newbury MA.

Circa 1950s Thomas Stubbs
Remains of the station in 2025.

Completed in 1943 on a 1.6-acre permit (No. 43-323) from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for $4,355, this square, one-story concrete fire control station served Battery 103/Seaman at Fort Dearborn. The station was manned by eight men, six manning the azimuth instruments and two in the AAIS OP-2. Camouflage for the station was provided by tone down paint and the dune it was built on. The reinforced concrete walls were eight inches thick which deviates from the typical ten to twelve. Inside, electric power was furnished from a M5 generator and heat was provided by a cannon stove. Telephone lines from Salisbury Beach provided connection back to Fort Dearborn. After the war, the lot was returned to the Fish and Wildlife Service and was used by the Massachusetts National Guard to store explosives. Around 1953, the guard blew the station up in a training exercise. The dune the station was on is off limits, but chunks of concrete still remain in the area from its demolition. Located in the Parker Rover Wildlife Refuge. No public access.

SOURCES and REFERENCES

Coast Defense Study Group

Formerly Used Defense Sites USACE

HD Portsmouth Annex 1945

Report of Completed Works 1943

Gerald W. Butler

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