The Cold War Museum - Physical Location

Cold War Museum Physical Location -
Lorton Nike Missile Base

"A Cold War Museum located at the Lorton Nike site would draw over 300,000 visitors per year."
- Professor Steven Fuller, George Mason University

Lorton Nike Missile Base and artist renditions of the future Cold War Museum

The Cold War Museum is currently in lease negotiations with Fairfax County Park Authroity for use of the former Nike Missile Base located in Lorton, Virginia.

The Lorton Nike Missile Base is a Cold War historical site located about 40 minutes from Washington, D.C. near the Intersection of Rt. 123 Chain Bridge Rd and Interstate 95.

Features in the permanent museum building will include a central hall with large exhibits, a film theater, the main gallery, a picture gallery, temporary and rotating exhibition area, library and study areas, seminar rooms, bookstalls, and a cafeteria. The central hall may include a U-2, a section of the Berlin Wall, a KH-11 “Spy” satellite,a Stalin/Lenin statue, a nuclear fallout shelter, and other historical Cold War reminders.

The Main Gallery will be organized around concepts including:

1946-48: The Coming of the Cold War. Berlin:1948-49, 1961, 1989
Espionage: CIA, KGB, NRO, other Intelligence organizations, Rosenberg Trials, and Rudolph Abel’s capture
McCarthy hearings; Revolt in the East - Poland 1953, Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968, and Poland 1970
Cold War POW and MIA stories
Sam Jaffee and the media involvement
Space Race
Arms Race
Bomber Gap
Missile Gap
Cuban Missile Crisis
Bay of Pigs
U-2 Incident
Solidarity
1989-91: The End of the Cold War.

Update - 1/1/2009

We are pleased with our advancements and look forward to concluding the lease negotiations with Fairfax County Park Authroity to locate at the former Lorton Nike Missile Base in the near future. I am grateful to Mr. Christopher Barker from the law firm of Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley, Emrich, & Walsh (www.thelandlawyers.com) who contributed hours of in-kind lease work on our behalf.

The Cold War Museum continues to work with the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC and the Atomic Bunker in Harnekop, Germany to display some of its artifacts. The Cold War Museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and has pledges of support for artifact loans from Smithsonian Air and Space, American History, National Portrait, and US Postal Museums. The Museum has chapters in Berlin, Germany and Milwaukee, Wisconsin staffed by volunteers.

The mobile exhibit on the U-2 Incident, the “Spies of Washington Tour,” and related educational activities continue to generate interest and support. The mobile exhibit has just moved from the ITOW Museum (www.itowmuseum.org) in Perham, MN. The exhibit, hosted by our Midwest Chapter, will be displayed at New Berlin Library (www.newberlin.lib.wi.us) in WI through April 29, 2009. The educational Spy Tour of Washington (www.spytour.com) is booking group tours online.

Cold War Conversations III (www.coldwar.org/praguespring) about the Prague Spring of 1968, held on October 11 at South County Secondary School in Lorton, VA, was a great success. The Embassies of the Czech and Slovak Republics cosponsored the event, which educated students and commemorated this important anniversary. A big thank you goes to EnviroSolutions, Inc. (www.esiwaste.com), who not only sponsored Cold War Conversations III but also provided the museum with a generous $200,000 donation. This donation will allow us to move forward with our Capital Campaign.

Please consider a year-end tax-deductible contribution. Your gift will help ensure future generations remember Cold War events and personalities that forever altered our understanding of national security, international relations, and personal sacrifice for one's country. Virginia Commonwealth employees can donate through the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC#3214) and California State Employees can donate through the California State Employee Charity Campaign (CSECC#18101).

For more information, or to subscribe to our quarterly newsletter list, please visit www.coldwartimes.com.

Lorton Nike Missile Base and artist renditions of the future Cold War Museum

More information on Nike Missiles