Saugatuck’s iconic Mount Baldhead Radar Annex added to National Register of Historic Places

Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced that the Saugatuck Gap Filler Annex is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was operational from 1958-1968 as part of a continent-wide effort to protect the United States from potential attack during the Cold War. (Photo provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation)

SAUGATUCK, MI - The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) recently announced that the Saugatuck Gap Filler Annex is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Located high atop the Mount Baldhead sand dune between downtown Saugatuck and Lake Michigan, the Saugatuck Gap Filler was constructed in 1957 to address the threat of air attacks from Soviet planes in the Cold War.

Officials said the special “Gap Filler” radars were used to scan for aircraft flying at low altitudes or near hilly terrain, preventing an opportunity for literal “under the radar” attacks.

“The white radar ball is one of the most visible landmarks in Saugatuck and nearby Douglas, but the real significance is the technology which was used inside the ball and in the diminutive bunker building below,” said Nathan Nietering, Michigan State Historic Preservation Office Project Coordinator and lead nomination reviewer.

The National Register is a program of the National Park Service and is administered by the states. More than 96,000 properties across the country, including about 2,000 in Michigan, have been listed in the National Register since its inception in the 1960s.

The historic Saugatuck landmark became operational in 1958 with a specific mission to search the skies over Lake Michigan. Back then, the radar antenna atop the dune spun continuously, feeding data via telephone lines to the Custer Air Force Station near Battle Creek.

In 1963, the Saugatuck Radar was upgraded with higher-power radar equipment. At this time, the radar antenna was fitted with a white globe-shaped “radome” made of fiberglass, which is a beloved Saugatuck icon today.

However, by 1968, the Saugatuck installation was deactivated due to a new threat of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were too fast for Gap Filler radars to recognize.

The next year, the city of Saugatuck purchased the unused site, which has since been sitting in silence.

One day in Saugatuck

Mount Baldhead overlooks downtown Saugatuck pictured on Aug. 19, 2021. Neil Blake | MLlive.comNeil Blake | MLlive.com

Out of the 131 Gap Fillers known, officials said the Saugatuck site is believed to be one of just a small handful and the most technologically complete.

Chuck Gustafson, an avocational cold war historian, was the researcher who led the effort to nominate the Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar to the National Register of Historic Places.

“The equipment in the radar annex is a rare snapshot of that brief period where emerging digital electronics had not quite left vacuum tube electronics behind,” Gustafson said.

“This is the only piece of the Cold War era Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense system in public hands that remains in place nearly as it was while serving in the Cold War. To participate in nominating the Saugatuck radar to the National Register was the opportunity of a lifetime.”

In 2021, the Saugatuck City Council approved a resolution establishing the Mount Baldhead Radar Station Workshop with the mission to protect, preserve and promote the station.

Over the next 15 months, the group met its goal to stabilize the equipment building and secure the site, making it ready for future preservation activities.

Russ Gardner, a Saugatuck City Council member, said without the support of the city and the multitude of volunteers, the National Register project wouldn’t be possible.

“The group’s efforts to stabilize and restore the installation created a lot of interest in the community, and more importantly, began the process to increase people’s understanding of the history of this community asset,” Gardner said. “Now, with the first phase of the project completed and with the recent National Register listing, it stands as a historical gem and the crown jewel of the city’s Mt. Baldhead Park.”

To be considered for listing in the National Register, a property must be at least 50 years old, associated with major historical events in the history of their community, state or nation, as well as the ability to possess historic integrity.

For more information about the work to document and repair the Saugatuck radar site, visit the Mount Baldhead Radar Station Preservation Workgroup Facebook page. To learn more on how to nominate a property, click here.

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