PHOTO Courtesy of Michigan State Historic Preservation Office Facebook
Constructed in 1957 in Saugatuck, Michigan, the iconic Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar was built high atop the Mount Baldhead sand dune to address the threat of an air attack of Soviet planes during the Cold War. This iconic but now defunct radar has recently been added to the National Register of Historic Places, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced in January.
“The iconic radar ball in Saugatuck is a well-known community landmark and is visible for miles along the shore of Lake Michigan,” says Michigan’s Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Martha MacFarlane-Faes. “A key aspect of the National Register program is to document and honor places that are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. The Saugatuck Radar and the groundbreaking technology it once employed was an important piece of our national defense infrastructure during the height of the Cold War.”
For more information, visit michigan.gov/nrhp.
