A BIG THANK YOU! to Bob Craig for his guidance
Asbury Park Press Story on Nomination Approval March 26, 2002
| NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-0018
(Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REGISTRATION FORM This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations
for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How
to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
(National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x"
in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested.
If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A"
for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification,
materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories
from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items
on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word
processor, or computer, to complete all items.
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In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet
the National Register criteria. ( ___ See continuation sheet for additional
comments.)
____ other (explain): _________________ __________________________________
_________________________________________ _________
Category of Property (Check only one box)
Number of Resources within Property Contributing
Noncontributing
Number of contributing resources previously listed in
the National Register
Name of related multiple property listing
___N/A______________________________________________
Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
7. Description
Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) See continuation sheets
X_ A Property is associated with events
that have
Criteria Considerations
___ a owned by a religious institution
or used for
Narrative Statement of Significance
Areas of Significance
Period of Significance
Significant Person
Cultural Affiliation
Architect/Builder
==========================================================================
Previous documentation on file (NPS)
Primary Location of Additional Data ___ State Historic Preservation Office
Name of repository:
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were
selected on a continuation sheet.)
organization Information Age Learning Center_______ date
September 1, 1999, February 2000 revision ___
city or town Wall Township_______________ state_NJ_ zip code _07719______ =========================================================================
Continuation Sheets Maps
Photographs
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) ==========================================================================
name _U. S. Army – Fort Monmouth_ c/o Michael Ruane, Base Transition Coordinator street & number_ Attn: AMSEL-DCS ____________ telephone 732 532-3906 city or town Fort Monmouth__________________ state NJ zip code 07703-5000 ==========================================================================
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
Camp Evans is a remarkably intact former U.S. Army secret research facility that was built around an earlier complex of buildings, known as the Belmar Station, operated by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America. Camp Evans, also known as the Signal Corps Radar Laboratory, the Camp Evans Signal Laboratory, Signal Corps Engineering Laboratory, and Evans Area, was established in 1941. A search of available documentation has established that the history of Camp Evans is strongly tied to the foundations of modern communications. The buildings and grounds that are at the heart of the Camp Evans three periods of significance are outlined as planning areas B and C in Map 2. The Camp Evans Historic district would include planning areas B and C. Historic photo 1 shows an aerial view of most of the buildings and grounds in planning area C, as photographed in the 1970s. The three periods significant to the development of communications and national defense: A) the Marconi era (1912-1925) with 6 contributing buildings; B) the achievements of the Signal Corps Radar Laboratory during World War II, adding 19 buildings and 1 structure; C) Army research projects from the close of World War II through 1975, adding 9 buildings and 2 structures. The establishment of this National Historic District would maintain the 1914 Marconi wireless station and later radar research facility character and integrity for the benefit, education and enjoyment of future generations. Marconi Period of Significance Historic Buildings The original facility was constructed by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America as the New York to London link in the ‘World Encircling Wireless Girdle’ (Sammis, Oct. 1912 Pg. 255, map 4). Built on a high bluff on the south bank of the Shark River basin, the complex of buildings with grass lawns and 85-year-old sycamore trees creates a park-like setting. The complex was a self-sufficient early twentieth century industrial village. The U.S. Army numbered the buildings in 1945. In the 1970s the numbering scheme was modified and is used here for easy cross reference to U.S. Army maps and surveys (Map 5). Five buildings, 9001, 9002, 9003, 9004 and 9006, are positively identified with the Marconi period. These buildings are considered significant for their architecture, their historical association with the Marconi company, their significant roll in WWI communication by the U.S. Navy, and the significant persons associated with the station during this period. As constructed, the station complex included a wireless operation building (9004), steam electric power plant (9006), 300 – 400-ft. tall wireless masts (now gone), a hotel (9001) and two cottages for managers (buildings 9002 & 9003). The 1914 Henderson photo presents an excellent April 12, 1914 overview of the site (historic photo 2). Nearest to the Shark River and just a few feet above sea level is the operation building (9004) at the north end of the district. The other buildings are all south of the operation building up a steep hill to approximate 70-Ft. elevation. The two residences (9002 and 9003) are near the edge of the hilltop. Both are between River Road, later renamed Marconi Road, and the steep hill to the river. Directly across sycamore tree lined Marconi Road (photo 1) from residence 9002 is the Marconi Hotel (9001). The power plant (9006) is west of the hotel near the junction of Marconi Road and Monmouth Boulevard. Behind the hotel were vegetable gardens, now replaced by later Army construction. Between the hotel and the power plant was the first of six 300-ft. masts. The line of masts ran south for 2200 ft and can be seen in the historic Henderson photo. The masts were made of steel sections bolted together. Large concrete anchors and steel wires supported each mast. The last mast was removed in 1924. The upper portion of one of the Marconi balancing towers remains as part of a historic marker . The Marconi buildings are good examples of early twentieth century industrial architecture that features unembellished substantial brick masonry construction. They are not cast in any formal style but incorporate Craftsman and Spanish Colonial elements, such as dormers, eave brackets, and Spanish Imperial roof tile, which are appropriate to their date of construction. Concrete is used as the sole architectural accent on windowsills, piers, and porch supports. The J. G. White Engineering Corporation of New York constructed this station for the American Marconi Company. As a group, each Marconi building is fireproof with dark red brick exterior, with simple concrete accents and a lighter red tile roof. The tiles bear the imprint “LUDOWICI-CELADON CO. CHICAGO IMPERIAL TILE”. The inside of each building is also fireproof. The wood floors are nailed to wood strips laid on poured wire reinforced concrete floors with clay NATCO tile spacers to reduce weight. Ceilings are concrete with clay tile spacers and the interior walls are made of plaster covered NATCO tiles. Wood was only used in the flooring, doors, window frames, molding, and to nail the imperial roof tiles. Bolted angle iron trusses support each tile roof. Except for Building 9004, the Marconi buildings have been well maintained by the Army during the past 60 years and are in excellent condition. For example, nearly all the original copper leaders and gutters are intact and many of the original 85-year-old sycamore trees planted in 1914 still grace the site. NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
Buildings 9001, is a U-shaped, 2 ½ story brick building constructed as a 45-bedroom hotel for unmarried employees. This substantial building is utilitarian in style. A 1913 photo shows the hotel under construction (historic photo 6). The August 1914 issue of the American Marconi publication Wireless Age featured a photo story of the station (historic photos 16 – 26) and in October 1914, the Marconi Corporate publication Wireless World featured the station (historic photos 11 – 15). Building 9001’s three gable roofs are finished with Imperial tile; a one story piazza, supported by brick piers and covered with tile, wraps around the building’s front and side elevations (photo 17). An undated color postcard shows the front and east side of the hotel (photo 8). Photo 2 shows the front of the hotel behind the overgrown ornamental bushes and photo 3 the rear. Comparing the present exterior to historic photos and original drawings (plans 1 – 3), the exterior has few changes. The east set of Dining Room front double doors have been replaced by a window, a fire escape has been added to the center rear and the rear of the kitchen area connects with a enclosed ramp to a 1942 constructed building. The first floor interior features a center foyer hall with a large fireplace and stairs to the second floor (historic photo 18b). To the each side of the foyer a large door leads to hallways (Plan 4). The right hall led to bedrooms, now offices. The left hall led to the hotel office, two bedrooms, the lounge hall doors, dining room, and kitchen passage. Also, in the foyer were double doors leading to the lounge. The lounge features a large fireplace and was used as a billiards room (photo 18a). The dining room sat up to fifty persons, tables near windows had a view of the ocean (photo 19a). Behind the kitchen were double doors, which led to a pantry which, led to the kitchen (photo 19b). In the kitchen was a walk-in freezer. Behind the kitchen there was a laundry room and stairs, up to the servants bedrooms and down to the basement. The foyer, dining room, kitchen and billiards rooms were sub-divided into offices to meet wartime space needs. Upstairs (plan 5) at the top of the center foyer stairs is a hallway and across the hall, the former library. To either sides are halls which, led to bedrooms which are now offices. Also in the upstairs center hall are stairs to the attic. Originally, the upstairs servants’ area hallway was separate from the main upstairs hallway and rooms. The Army connected them. Due to the poured concrete floors all bathrooms floors were elevated eight inches to allow the pipes to be concealed. The individual guest room plumbing and closets were removed by the Army, as well as the kitchen equipment and walk-in freezers. Plans 8 – 9 show the floor plan alterations made by the Army in 1941. Plan 10 shows the current floor plan. Radar development workspaces are still intact in the attic. In the east end of the attic are four 10-ft. by 10-ft. radio work booths with two layers of metal screens. In the full basement, the WWII blackout electric panel remains, as well as the cold war era Fall-Out shelters. Two brick bungalows are located across Marconi Road from the hotel (photo 4). Buildings 9002 (photo 5) and 9003 (photo 6), were constructed for the station’s Manager and Chief engineer and were later used for Army officers’ housing. The bungalows are rectangular, masonry buildings with hipped roofs finished with imperial tile and dormers facing front and back. Each residence has a kitchen, dining room (historic photo 23a), living room (photo 23b), pantry, four bedrooms, a single bathroom, a porch, and a full basement. A stairway leads to the two upstairs bedrooms. The porch of 9002 has been sub-divided by a masonry wall into a front screen porch and a side glass block enclosed sunroom. The pantry wall of 9003 has been removed creating a larger kitchen. Associated with each bungalow is a wood-frame garage. Comparison with historic photos 22a and 22b show the exteriors show little alteration. Building 9004 was the Operation Building for the Belmar Station near the edge of the Shark River (photo 7). This rectangular 83 by 30 ft., brick utilitarian building with a hip roof has a nearly full front porch supported by brick piers facing the north. Historic photos indicate that the current composition shingle roof replaced the imperial tile. This building is in need of repair, but the substantial masonry structure is intact. The front porch brick railings have been removed, and the eves are damaged. Most of the interior walls were removed (plan 11), leaving a large room where once there were offices and operator rooms (historic photo 24a). The October 1914 Wireless World article describes the building, how a ring of buried zinc plates electrically grounded it, and how the basement was waterproof. Time has defeated the engineers, the partial basement below water level has been flooded for many years. On the west side of the original structure, a one room concrete block addition was added to house a heat unit. This addition has collapsed and the boiler is exposed to the elements (photo 7). Just east of 9004 is 9005 (plan11). A 1949 photo shows the rear of 9004 and front of 9005 (photo 32). This single story wooden frame structure built on a concrete slab is very deteriorated with holes in the roof. Building 9005 was on the property in 1941 acquisition maps, but it does not appear in the 1914 Henderson photo. The building may have been built later by Marconi, the Navy, or RCA. NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
Building 9006 is across Marconi Road, west of the hotel, near the intersection of Monmouth Boulevard and Marconi Road. It is a rectangular, brick building with a new asphalt shingle gable roof (photo 8). This was the Marconi steam-electric power and electric lighting plant. An undated color postcard shows the building with the first 300ft Marconi masts in front of it (historic photo 9). The interior was filled with boilers and equipment to supply electricity for the entire operation and steam heat to the hotel and cottages. The original boilers and generators were removed prior to 1938. The original 1913 plans show three sets of double doors have been replaced with modern doors (plan 12) and one opening has been made into a double window. It has a one car garage brick addition on the north side and an addition on the west side to house a heating unit (photo 9). The King’s College Class of 1938 used the building as a biology laboratory. The Army, last used it as a electronics laboratory. The interior has been modified by the Army as a computer laboratory and is in excellent condition (plan 13). Behind 9006 is a small well pump house (9081), it replaced an original Marconi well house seen in a Marconi published photo (historic photo 21a). Structure built by The Kings College Building 9007 was constructed as a gymnasium for the students of The King’s College in 1938. Some of the students assisted in finishing it in October 1938 as part of a work-study program. It was brick, with a bowed roof and parapet, large windows and was one and one-half stories high (historic photo 29). The gym was in very poor condition, it was razed in October 1999 (historic photo 30). The razing was necessary to remove contaminated soil under the building. The Army used it as a metal plating shop, allowing solvents to leak into the ground. World War II Period of Significance Historic Structures The second group of structures significant to communications history at Camp Evans were built by the U.S. Army to serve its mission during World War II as a radar production center, and its later transition to a research and development facility. Most of the buildings were built in 1942. The key permanent buildings associated with this period are Buildings 9010, 9011, 9036, and 9037. Nearly all the other structures built in 1942, were temporary wood frame construction designed to last five years. An aerial photograph from the 1970s shows most of the World War II constructed buildings behind the Marconi Hotel (historic photo 1). As a group the buildings are in good condition, but in need of paint. They have kept their WWII period look, with only minor exterior modifications. Most building interiors have been greatly modified to meet later mission requirements. Buildings 9010 and 9011 are industrial, long, rectangular structures with 6 inch concrete slab floors, brick load bearing walls and wood truss every 20 ft. supporting an asphalt shingle gable roof. Approximately 450 ft. by 60 ft., each is one story in height and has four sections separated by firewalls and fire doors. Architect John T. Rowland, a noted New Jersey Architect, designed them in 1941 (plans 14 – 15). Building 9011 has a covered loading dock on the southwest side. A 1997 color photo taken from a tower provides an elevated view of 9010 and 9011(historic photo 33). Photo 10 shows a ground level view of 9010 looking east and photo 11, looking west. Buildings 9010 and 9011 are connected at their centers by an enclosed brick walkway with a gable roof, forming one large, “H”-shaped building, thus the name. Buildings 9036, and 9037 (photos 12 – 13) were added in late 1942 based on the Roland design, William A. Goef was the architect (plan 16). Buildings 9036 and 9037 are similarly joined, to create the ‘H’ shape. The enclosed hallway from 9011 connects to the west ends of both 9036 and 9037, as seen in historic photo 1. Each “H-building” is paired with a brick boiler house (Buildings 9012 and 9038) that is situated within the building’s court space. Both “H” buildings are in good condition and are fairly well preserved. The only exterior modifications since WWII construction are window security grates on some windows, some upgraded windows, and occasional air-conditioning units on concrete pads. The two ‘H’ buildings have the same interior design, a center hallway running the length of each building. Except for the firewalls all interior walls are non-load bearing partition walls. On either side of the hallways are offices and laboratories. Building 9010 has had some modifications from the original 1942 interior. The characteristic WWII Army radar laboratory interior is basically intact and in good condition. The interior of 9011 is nearly identical to the original floor plan. It housed a tool area, sign shop, wood shop, metal shop, and vacuum tube fabrication shop. 9011 is also in good condition, except for the east section. The old vacuum tube shop received little maintenance and removal of equipment damaged partition walls. Buildings 9036 and 9037 have undergone considerable interior modifications to meet the needs of the Electronics Warfare Laboratory, which replaced the 1950s electron tube and transistor laboratory. The original wall treatments, windows, and doors have been replaces with 1980s materials. Some areas have raised computer room floors. NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
Once found all over Camp Evans are the distinctive structures designed by American engineer Richard Buckminster Fuller, the Dymaxion Deployment Unit (DDU). The units were produced by the Butler Manufacturing Company, a firm that manufactured grainbins. They are pre-fabricated corrugated circular metal buildings (plan 20), made of a minimum of materials, and able to be assembled by two persons in a few hours. Thirteen still exist today at Camp Evans today, while many empty circular concrete pads testify to the numbers once in use. Three DDU’s, adjacent to 9011, have be selected for preservation (photo 14). Within the proposed district stand a number of single story wood frame contributing structures not specifically identified with historic events or persons. They are 9029, 9031, 9032, 9034, and 9059. All can be seen in historic photo 1, except for 9059, which is blocked by trees. As a group they were constructed in 1942-3 as support buildings for the radar laboratory mission. All have tan painted clapboard with brown painted doors and trim. All have black asphalt roofs. They have remained nearly as built, a limited number of new doors have been added, and window security grates added on some. West of ‘H’ building 9036 / 9037 is Building 9029, a square building, which served as the sheet metal shop. Next to it stands Building 9031, the post fire station. The fire station has a garage for two trucks and sleeping quarters behind the garage. Building 9032 was a research library and administration building annex building. It is L-shaped and connected to the Marconi Hotel (9001) by an enclosed brick walkway (plan 17). It runs from the front east side of the hotel and behind it nearly its entire length. It has a center hallway with offices to either side. Except for the west rear section, it has not been updated since original construction. Building 9034 (photos 15 – 16), a former electric shop, is rectangular in shape, approximately 60-ft. by 110-ft. Its design appears to be a wood version of a ‘H’ building section (plan 18). Building 9059, the telephone exchange, is between 9032 and the Marconi power plant (9006), possibly where the base of the first 300-ft. mast was. It is a simple rectangle (plan 19). Its interior once contained telephone operator switchboards, currently it only contains telephone switching equipment. Not within the proposed district, an architecturally distinctive building type known as a “Special Antennae Cover,” designed by John T. Rowland and exemplified in Buildings 9015, 9017 (photo 17), 9019, 9021, 9023, 9025, 9045, 9047, 9049, 9051, 9053, and 9055, are found at Camp Evans. Two stories in height and barn like in form, these frame buildings, originally supported by flying buttresses instead of interior supports, had two pairs of oversize double doors. After WWII the antenna shelters were extensively altered to accommodate their reuse as laboratories, office, or storage. Building 9023 still retains its flying buttresses, but like 9017, its original double doors have been replaced with a single metal roll-up door. The building type, its design and original elevations are shown in plan 21. Also found at Camp Evans is a WWII restricted airspace warning spotlight tower near Gate 3. This tower could be relocated to within the historic district for preservation. Structures constructed at Diana Site and main historic district area during Research Period of Significance The Project Diana site, already on the New Jersey State Register, is east of the Marconi hotel. The original 100-ft. SCR-271D radar antenna (historic photo 34 - 35), it’s wood frame support structure housing the radar equipment used by Project Diana and the later constructed 50-ft. diameter Diana Dish are no longer extant (historic photo 36). The support facility (building 9116) for the Diana Dish and the footings from the Diana disk remain. A 1957 built 60-ft. diameter radar disk, the ‘Space Sentry’, and it’s support facility (building 9162) still exist in the fenced two acre isolated site (photo 18). The existing structures and the Space Sentry are associated with early satellite tracking and ionosphere research giving them significance. Building 9116 (photo 19) is a one-story masonry structure, which appears to be an original center building and two additions. The interior has the look of a 1950s satellite control room. Building 9162 is also a one-story masonry structure that is connected via conduit to the 1957 ‘Space Sentry’ satellite-tracking dish. The light green painted interior also has the appearance of a control room and support office. The ‘Space Sentry’ satellite-tracking dish is in good structural condition and the mechanical equipment appears to have been ‘moth-balled’ for possible future reactivation. The original electronics have been removed. In the main historic district one very simple one-story concrete structure, building 9400, was built sometime in the early 1950s. The building, east of building 9010 (historic photo 1), was where Senator Joe McCarthy’s staff was denied entrance. Three 20-ft. by 80-ft. steel utility buildings, on concrete foundations, were added in the courtyards of the ‘H’ buildings. Along Monmouth Boulevard is a 20-ft. square steel building (9092). As a group they are all made of corrugated metal with asphalt roofs. Finally, one-story Building 9093, a secure entrance and guardhouse, is just west of the Marconi Hotel. It is frame construction with tan siding and brown doors and accents. It has an 18-ft. by 35-ft entrance hallway with a guard office to control entrance at Gate 1 of Camp Evans. NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
Bldg. No. Type* Original Use* Last Use* Date Built Contributing Period* 9001 P Marconi Hotel, Sta. No.6 Administration - Firefinder
1914 C-1,2,3
* P – Permanent ; S – Semi-permanent ; T – Temporary ; Distr. XFMR - Distributor Transformer; (C) - Contributing building (I) - Individually eligible NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
Marconi Era
1936 - 1941
WWII Radar Laboratory
Project Diana
Research
NPS Form 10-900-a
OMB No. 1024-0018
At the dawn of the Information Age of wireless communication, the Belmar Marconi station was a key link in the first worldwide commercial wireless network. This station would play a part in fundamental innovations, host significant persons, and help prepare our nation for electronic defense. During 85 years, as communications technology went from spark, to alternator, to vacuum tubes, printed circuits, transistors, satellites, fiber optics, integrated circuits, and the internet this historic location saw it all. In national defense, the station would play a part in the beginnings of electronic warfare in WWI and participate in all major innovations leading to the modern integrated electronic battlefield fielded today. Camp Evans has exceptional importance in the development of communications, electronics, radar, and television, including their application. The historic events that occurred at Camp Evans fall within three periods significant to the development of communications and national defense: A) the Marconi era; B) the achievements of the Signal Corps Radar Laboratory during World War II; C) later Army research projects from the close of World War II through 1975. In terms of level of significance, Camp Evans, the former Marconi Belmar Station has exceptional state and national significance under NRHP criteria A, B, and C for its role in the development of twentieth century communications and in establishing the United States Army’s superior electronic capabilities in national defense. The site has a distinct period of social significance, March of 1925 to June of 1932, when a corporation named the Monmouth Pleasure Club owned the site which functioned as the unofficial state headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. The increasing data which has been gathered on the Marconi era in Wall Township and the pre-military beginnings of Camp Evans as a Marconi High Power Wireless Station, has shown Camp Evans to have been an early communications commercial enterprise and research center. Associated with the station were significant leaders during the formative period of modern communications, communications technology and WWI wartime communications. The site served as the Naval WWI wireless communication center. The history of modern communications is strongly tied to the history and growth of the State of New Jersey in the twentieth century. One building of the complex, the Marconi hotel, is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. In terms of level of significance, the Belmar Station period has achieved state and national significance for its role in the development of twentieth-century communications as the use of Marconi’s invention expanded beyond its original maritime uses to become a world wide wireless commercial industry. The station was part of the “wireless girdle round the earth ”, conceived and constructed by Marconi to expand his wireless commercial maritime system into a world wide commercial communication network to compete with cable based telegraph companies. After the Marconi period, the site was used as a Nursing Home, a social club with close associations to the Ku Klux Klan and finally, was the first campus of The King’s College, a Christian College. The integration of ongoing research, fact collecting and recording of oral historical information documents the second period of significance. It was during this period that Camp Evans emerged as one of the nation’s premier wartime radar production and research and development facilities during World War II. Camp Evans radar officers and technicians worked with British radar experts sharing information to improve Allied radar equipment quality and performance. In many instances Camp Evans radar teams set specifications, directed, contracted and coordinated wartime radar research and production with other US wartime radar laboratories. Camp Evans and its contributions to WWII national defense and radar technology research are of unquestionable exceptional significance at the national and state level under NRHP criteria A, B, and C. The radar developed and produced at Camp Evans had an enormous impact on our country’s ability to wage war successfully. The lab also developed component parts that would become integral to modern communication systems. Equipment developed, prototyped, tested, battle hardened, documented, and upgraded at Camp Evans saw use in all WWII theaters of war and protected American military assets world-wide. In some cases equipment went directly into battle from Camp Evans to meet critical needs. The Project Diana site, already on the New Jersey Register
of Historic Places, is where the most famous event to occur at Camp Evans
took place and foreshadowed the third period of significance. This
site, in the northeast corner of Camp Evans, honors the electronic dawn
of the space age by engineers who proved that radio waves could pierce
the earth’s ionosphere. Project Diana, named for the Roman goddess
of the moon, was headed by Lt. Col. John J. DeWitt in 1945-1946.
The significance of Project Diana is exceptional at the national and international
level under NRHP criteria A and B. The demonstration and proof that
the ionosphere could be pierced, and that communication was possible between
earth and the universe beyond, opened the possibility of space exploration
and had
NPS Form 10-900-a
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worldwide social and scientific impact. Later at the Diana Site, upgraded radar equipment would be used to track the first satellite, Sputnik and subsequent U.S. and Soviet spacecraft and satellite launches. The third and final period of significance under NRHP criteria A and B is the post WWII Cold War era, when the US military realized that future wars would require a commitment to fundamental scientific research and the incorporation into defense systems. During WWII, the value of cutting edge communications equipment and radar was recognized, as giving the US military the decisive edge needed for victory in the battlefield. Camp Evans personnel conducted research on site and were involved in projects world wide to support military communications and Electronic Warfare preparedness. Equipment, components, basic research and engineering projects provided components to communications technology, satellite technology, weather analysis and nucleonics. Equipment designed, prototyped, and tested at Camp Evans played a role in every US conflict, including the Cold War. At the beginning of this period, the Signal Corps researched areas and invested in emerging technology for military needs in which industry had no requirements or need to invest. Some of these developments proved fundamental to modern communications. At the close of the period, however, industry found lucrative applications for these Signal Corps inspired investments and the military could now select and modify commercially produced components. Principle among many advances was the Signal Corps support of electronics miniaturization. When Bell Laboratories disclosed its new breakthrough, the transistor, engineers of Camp Evans were positioned to play an important roll in the emerging technology. A politically inspired threat and cloud during this activity was the campaign, accusations and the attempts to show that some Camp Evans personnel had communist connections. The pivotal event was a face-off with security personnel at Camp Evans when Senator Joe McCarthy visited with a group and demanded entry into top-secret areas without proper security clearance. Camp Evans developed, tested, improved, and integrated numerous electronic components that were deployed in many defense systems. A number of Army engineering projects were managed, developed and prototyped at Camp Evans. Those we currently have information about are Firefinder, REMBASS and J-Stars. Historical background and significance: On July 12, 1912, the Marconi Company purchased land within Wall Township to serve as the headquarters for its American wireless subsidiary, named the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (Klein et al. 1984:2.20; Zahl 1970b, deed, W. J. Robinson to Marconi, Bk. 933 Pg. 289). Marconi’s vision was to create a “wireless girdle round the earth… using Nature’s ether as a conductor”. This would aid maritime safety and compete with the undersea cable telegraph companies selling less costly wireless telegram service (Sammis 1912 Pg. 255). The Titanic disaster proved the value of Marconi’s wireless system. Investors and new customers provided capital enabling the construction of these high-power stations on a grand scale, with quality of construction and amenities not enjoyed in the wireless industry at the time. Another result of the Titanic sinking was the passage by Congress of the Radio Act of 1912 that would impact the Marconi stations in the future. The original concept started with nine links for a message to circle the globe (map 4). Belmar station was a part of the New York to London link and the New York to Panama link. The J. G. White Engineering Corporation of New York constructed these stations for the Marconi Company at eight locations in the United States, two of which were in New Jersey. Even though the land was located in Wall Township, the station was called the Belmar Station, as Belmar was the nearest town with a rail station, just across the Shark River Basin, and the Belmar Post Office served the location and does so to this day. Similarly, the New Brunswick station was located in Franklin Township and named for the more widely known town. Each set of stations acted as a pair requiring a separation of at least 20 miles due to technology limitations of the day. Belmar was the receiving station, New Brunswick the transmitting station. Each operations building was located near an inlet or river connected to the ocean for effective electrical grounding. At Belmar, up to 30 wireless operators were on duty to receive messages from Carnavon, Wales, transcribe the messages by hand and forward the messages over landlines to the Marconi office on Broad Street, New NPS Form 10-900-a
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York City, or Philadelphia. Belmar operators also keyed messages for automatic transmission by equipment at New Brunswick to Towyn, Wales. (Bucher 1920 Pg. 293; Wireless World 1914 Pg. 414). As wireless technology improved, transmission distances would increase and more operator tasks were automated. The New Brunswick station operations buildings and masts are no longer standing and the last residential buildings are to be razed for a commercial business. Camp Evans, the former Belmar station, is located about 20 miles south of Twin Lights, Highlands, NJ, the site of Marconi’s 1899 first wireless demonstration in America at the America’s Cup Sailboat races. Wireless was a new maritime industry and this was the start of worldwide commercial wireless expansion with Belmar a part of the transatlantic link. Marconi had sent the very first transatlantic message in 1901, and Marconi’s first transatlantic radio tower had been set up at Twin Lights in 1907 (Zahl 1970a). In the late 1930’s at Twin Lights, Army engineers who later relocated to Belmar station (Camp Evans) would also test their new radio advancement, radar. At Wall, Marconi improved on the Twin Lights arrangement by setting up some 30 radio towers. Six of these towers were over 300 feet tall, constructed in a straight line (Zahl 1970b: Wireless World 1914 Pg. 414). These towers can be seen in the historic Henderson photos (historic photos 2, 10). Of all the towers, only the top portion of a 150ft. balancing tower remains today, having fallen in 1974. It was relocated on Marconi Road between Brighton Ave and Laural Gully Brook as a historic landmark, by Wall Township. Near the intersection of Monmouth Boulevard. and Watson Road a large concrete anchor from the second 300ft tower remains. The only known, remaining 300ft tower base with two of the original four anchors is located approximately 100ft west of the intersection of Monmouth Bl. and Harrison St., about 10ft from the Harrison street edge. The ring of bolts to secure the iron mast sections still protrudes from the concrete base. The anchors are opposite one another in resident’s yards each approximately 75ft. from the base. Still extant are the Marconi Hotel (Building 9001), the bungalows across the street from the main building (Buildings 9002 and 9003), the Operations Building (Building 9004), and Power Plant (Building 9006) and Well House (9081). The J. G. White Engineering Corporation designed, as Station No. 6, all the Marconi buildings in June of 1913. Mark Swanson of New South Associates located a number of the original 1913 architectural plans (plans 1 –7, 12) during his valuable research and deed survey. His work adds a great deal to the knowledge of Camp Evans prior to Army take over and documents the title chain of properties purchased by the Marconi Company and later the US Army (Reed and Swanson 1999). Completed in 1914, the hotel was used as the administrative center and housing for the nearly 50 personnel needed to maintain the 24 hr. wireless operations. The operators were mostly unmarried men and the accommodations at the hotel and station were luxurious for the day, especially when compared to shipboard wireless duty. The operations building (9004) has been long empty. It was here during its construction, in January of 1914, that Marconi employee David Sarnoff, inventor Edward Armstrong, Columbia Professor Morecroft, and Mr. Roy Weagant gave Armstrong’s “regenerative circuit” the first full-scale test (Lessing 1969, Pg. 180). This device which, Armstrong kept concealed in a black box, greatly increased the distance of radio reception (Zahl 1970b: Lewis 1991 Pg. 247, 326). On February 2, 1914 Sarnoff reported the event, the report still exists (Sarnoff 1968 Pg. 7). This was a revolutionary development event which Sarnoff would later recall as “that memorable night at the Belmar station when, by means of your ‘magic box,’ I was able to copy signals from Honolulu” (Lewis 1991 Pg. 113). As a radio industry pioneer, Armstrong would go on to develop FM radio and superregeneration. Armstrong was later awarded the 1941 Franklin Medal and the 1942 Edison Medal from the IEEE both awarded for this fundamental radio advancement (Nahin 1996 Pg. 179). This was Armstong’s first visit to the site, returning during WWII to apply his expertise to radar, again with revolutionary results. By the 100th anniversary of Armstrong’s birth, historians of science would call him America’s foremost inventor, exceeding Edison in imaginative scope and technical finesse (Fantel 1990 Pg. 26). Sarnoff would become President of the Radio Corporation of American (RCA) (Buchanan and Johnson 1984:79; Graham 1986; Wintemberg ca. 1980). At this point Armstrong and Sarnoff were friends. Years later they would become bitter enemies battling in court over FM patent royalties. The life at Belmar station consisted of long shifts in the operations building. The social diversions consisted of billiards, boxing, reading, and card games. Outside there were tennis courts, croquet, baseball, football, and walking paths. During the winters the company hosted dances in the hotel with guests coming from the Marconi office on Broad Street in New York City. “The dining room, decorated for the occasion, was transformed into a ballroom” (Wireless Age undated). NPS Form 10-900-a
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“The hotels attached to these huge plants are objects of wonder to all visitors. Operators are given well furnished bedrooms with adjoining baths; there are lounging and music rooms holding player pianos and Victrolas with splendid selections of records, besides a well-stocked library which circulates through all stations. Smoking rooms are fitted with restful lounging chairs and on many winter nights these are drawn up to form a cozy half circle about the large open fireplaces. The dining rooms are run solely for the convenience of operators and service may be had by those coming off duty at any hour of the day or night. Billiard tables are found very popular, and bowling alleys in the hotel basement are promised” (Wireless Age, November 1915 Pg. 127-129). When the United States entered World War I in April of 1917, the federal government took over control of all wireless stations using the authority of Section Three of the 1912 Radio Act. The Marconi operation in Wall Township and New Brunswick, as well as all Marconi High-Power Stations in the U.S. were operated by the U.S. Navy. The Belmar Station played a significant role in wartime communications and played a roll in the beginnings of electronic warfare. Some of the most important messages of the war were dispatched and received at the Belmar station. The Germans had cut the trans-Atlantic submarine telegraph cables (Douglas 1987, Pg. 276-279) making wireless radio the key wartime communication technology. The Navy set up a control center at Belmar, with private leased wires to Washington and connections to northeast coast high-power stations capable of trans-Atlantic communication. A. Hoyt Taylor, the future father of Navy radar (McKinney 1961 Pg. 12), was commanding officer of the Belmar Station and also the TCO - ‘Trans-Atlantic Communications Officer’ (Taylor 1948 Pg. 50-60). Belmar had control of the German high-power transmitters in Tuckerton, N.J. and Sayville, L.I., and the Marconi New Brunswick transmitter station. The Belmar receiving station was connected via leased line to the Marconi station on Cape Cod and the Navy Bar Harbor station. When reception was poor at Belmar the other stations could assist. Outgoing messages for Europe were dispatched to Belmar from Washington and forwarded by radio to Europe. Received messages were dispatched by wire to Washington. Belmar was in regular communications with France, first via the Eiffel Tower and later a new station in Lyons, France. When service to Rome, Italy was initialed, A. Hoyt Taylor transmitted the first exchange between President Wilson and the Italian Minister of Communications in Rome. The station staff was now in excess of one hundred personnel plus Marine guards. Messages sent between the U.S. to England, France, and Italy were coded to prevent German use of the information. The station also ran continuos interception of the messages from the German high-power station at Nauen. Most of the time uncoded English messages were sent to influence the German population in the U.S., but at times coded messages were sent and transmission frequencies were changed. These messages were believed for the German submarines operating off the American coast. The code was recorded and sent to code-breakers at Navy Headquarters. To detect suspected spies’ transmissions from on shore to the submarines, Belmar station personnel built a radio direction finder on an old truck to patrol the coast. No spies were found, but they detected the source of some of the signals, faults in the New Brunswick station electric generator. Ernst Alexanderson, Roy Weagant, and George C. Clark performed revolutionary loop aerial construction, reception tests, and static reduction work at Belmar. Once when A Hoyt Taylor, and Alexanderson were testing a GE receiver in the Belmar hotel basement (9001) a lightning bolt struck the first 400-ft. mast giving Alexanderson a shock through his headphones. In spite of the danger, they kept on working (Brittain 1992 Pg. 128). In 1919 Mr. Clark began a radio history collection at Belmar station in the Marconi Hotel which is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution. Possibly the most important messages exchanged by President Wilson were uncoded messages of his armistice terms transmitted directly to Nauen, Germany. This wireless negotiation is believed to have shortened the war (Wireless Age 1919 Pg. 8). At the end of the War, on February 1, 1919 the station was returned to Marconi Company control. Mr. Sarnoff, Mr. Alexanderson, and Mr. Winterbottom, a Marconi Vice President, were there to take the station back. NPS Form 10-900-a
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After the war, the Navy’s Stanford C. Hooper, wanted to have military control of radio patents, licenses, and technology. Congress would not permit the Navy to control a commercial enterprise so Hooper urged a consortium of American companies to buy the American Marconi Company. Thus elements of General Electric, Westinghouse, and AT&T incorporated in October of 1919 to form The Radio Corporation of America (RCA), with David Sarnoff later becoming president (Buchanan and Johnson 1984:79; Zahl 1970b, Douglas 1985 Pg. 170). In October 1919 the Marconi Belmar station became the RCA Belmar station. RCA owned the Wall Township facility until 1925, when operations were moved to more modern accommodations since loop aerials made Belmar station obsolete (Wintemberg ca. 1980). This ended the Marconi period of significance of the Camp Evans Historic District. As an unnamed writer put in the late 1920s, “Belmar! It is a sweet and euphonious name. A pile
of money went up the flue there, technical reputations were lost and gained,
there were heartbreaks private and corporate, and now there is silence”
(Wireless Age, undated).
The Monmouth Pleasure Club and the Ku Klux Klan: 1925 - 1932 In March of 1925, the Marconi Hotel (9001), the power plant (9006), other wooden buildings south of Marconi Road and approximately 90 acres became the property of a group called the ‘Monmouth Pleasure Club Association’. The deed of sale reserved the right of the seller to remove a 400-ft. steel mast from the property for one year. The masts must have been extended from the original 300-ft. height (deed, Bk. 1287 Pg. 444). To raise money for the purchase of the property, the club was incorporated in New Jersey and 13,000 shares of stock were sold to the public. Additional lands were also purchased enlarging the tract. Most shares were sold to Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members at Klan meetings around the area. The group hosted meetings attended by the national officials of the KKK, whose “grand wizard” was Hiram K. Evans, of Illinois. As a result of this association, the Marconi site became known as the “Evans Encampment” (Zahl 1970b). A 1926 article in the New York Times identifies the property as the “State headquarters of the organization” (NY Times, June 20, 1926, section 2, pg. 19). The article states, “Only members of the Klan or affiliated organizations are admitted to the 396-acre reservation”. In 1926 plans were created to develop 200 acres into building lots. The subdivision was named Imperial Park. Plans on file in the Monmouth County Hall of Records label the Marconi Hotel (9001) as the Imperial Hotel. Once the potential value of the property became apparent, infighting and property ownership disputes fragmented the local KKK groups leading to lawsuits reported in the local press (Asbury Press, October 27, 1927 Pg. 1). The Monmouth Pleasure Club officers contended the purchase of the Marconi property was a business investment of individual stockholders. The Klan were tenants who paid a fee to hold meetings and rental for use of a bungalow for Grand Klan Dragon Arthur H. Bell and his wife. Dragon Bell insisted the Monmouth Pleasure Club was established by instruction of the Klan and Klan membership was the largest group of investors. At a hearing before the count of chancery in Long Branch, Bell’s attorney argued the Klan should have controlling interest, based upon the shares owned by Klan members. Finally, in February of 1928 the New Jersey Klan suit was vacated when the largest single shareholder was shown to have no affiliation with the Klan and had invested for profit. In 1928 revised plans (map 6) were filed in Freehold for the Imperial Park development. The February 17, 1928 edition of the Asbury Park Press reported Judge Bodine of the United States district court in Trenton had granted the national Klan an injunction that prevented the Monmouth Pleasure club association from selling the property until an action before the federal court was decided. The national Klan contended the charters of the now dissolved local Klan units transferred all assets to the national Klan upon dissolution. This would give the national Klan a controlling interest in the Monmouth Pleasure Club Association. On September 30, 1929 the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the action to confiscate the Marconi property. Now the Monmouth Pleasure Club was free to sell the subdivided property. The complete plans were not realized, the onset of the depression most likely reduced the value of the lots. Little information has been found from 1929 – 1936. Russ Henderson, whose father photographed the Marconi station, recalled the Klan sponsored a circus behind the Marconi Hotel every summer while he was in High School (1934-37). Also in the field behind the hotel the Klan had a 50-Ft. tall cross with 25Ft. wide arms, which would light at night. In those days of open farm fields the cross was visible to a large area (Russ Henderson, personal communication 1999). A published oral history of William J. Jones states the American Nazi party, the Bund, held meetings at the Marconi Hotel before WWII (Johnson 12/2/1993 Pg. 30). NPS Form 10-900-a
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In 1936, the Young People’s Association for the Propagation of the Gospel purchased the Marconi property for the purpose of opening an interdenominational Christian College. The King’s College opened on September 19, 1938, during the devastating hurricane. The president was coast-to-coast radio preacher Reverend Percy B. Crawford (Bahr Pg. 50; Zahl 1970b). Percy Crawford had established “The Young People’s Church of the Air” in 1931 in Philadelphia. Donations and gifts to Reverend Crawford’s radio ministry enabled the purchase of the Marconi property for $25,000. In 1933 he started the Pinebrook Bible Conference in Pennsylvania. Rev. Crawford’s vision for Belmar, was to create a Christian College like Illinois’s Wheaton College, the “Wheaton of the east”. The college opened with a faculty of eleven and about seventy students. A 1938 photo (historic photo 28) shows the students in front of the Marconi Hotel (9001). A number of the faculty traveled from Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and other institutions one-day a week to help the college offer an outstanding program. A songbook published by Reverend Crawford describes the college as follows: “The College is unique for its high scholarship, unusual faculty made up of born-again Christian men, fine scientific laboratory and library, beautiful ninety-one acre campus adjoining the salt water bay, new modern equipped gymnasium.” (Crawford 1939 Pg. 1). The Marconi Hotel served as the main college building. Men were housed on the first floor and the servants’ rooms above the kitchen area. Women’s bedrooms were on the second floor, main hall. The Hotel billiards room served as the college chapel and classroom. The Marconi power building was the biology laboratory. In 1939 a student developed anti-venom for black-widow spider bites. The drug firm ‘Sharpe and Dome’, produced the anti-venom as a product. The Marconi cottages (9002 & 9003) were homes for residing professors. The Marconi operation (9004) building was a chemistry and physics laboratory. With the increased enrollment by the second year, 9004 would be used as dormitory space, as well as a two-story farmhouse behind the hotel. The College constructed a gymnasium (9007) next to the Marconi power building (9006), in 1938. Completed in October (historic photo 29), students helped finish the building as part of a work-study program. This building was razed in October 1999 (historic photo 30), to allow environmental remediation of soil under the structure. Rev. Percy Crawford was described in the March 1961 issue of Decision as one of the most dynamic Christian leaders of the time. Rev. Crawford is also the first person to preach coast-to-coast in the first nation-wide religious radio broadcast. Rev. Billy Graham, who considers Percy his spiritual father (Bahr Pg. 48), was the speaker at his memorial service attended by over 2,500 persons (Bahr Pg. 78). The college campus would not stay long in Wall Township. King’s college students would not graduate from the Belmar campus. The college had not attained permanent accreditation from the NJ Department of Education. Rather than continue with provisional accreditation the college placed the property up for sale (Fenton Duvall, personal communication 1999). In 1941 the government would again take over the site (map 7). This time it was not the Navy, but the nearby Army Signal Corps Installation, Fort Monmouth, that would purchase the old Marconi property (Buchanan and Johnson 1984 Pg. 79). The college relocated to Delaware City, Delaware and the Marconi station once again was on the cutting edge of communications. Signal Corps Engineering Laboratory during World War II, 1941 to 1945 As early as 1918, US Army Signal Corps visionaries foresaw the extreme danger of enemy aircraft attack, as aircraft technology would progress. They then began an under-funded program to develop an early warning system. Using technology and components available at the time, the pioneers tried sound, infrared heat and ultimately began work with radio waves in 1934 (Dunlap 1948 Pg. 133-134; Davis 1943 Pg. 31). Interestingly, Marconi had observed changes in radio wave reception and predicted in a 1922 speech, before the International Radio Engineers (IRE) in New York City, that a system could be developed to detect ships in fog and darkness (Marconi 1962 Pg. 236). Known as Radio Position Finding (RPF), work was begun at Ft. Monmouth under Col. William R. Blair, but for secrecy reasons it was moved to the scrub barrens of Sandy Hook. By May 1936, they had a working prototype, and a complete system by May 1937. In the spring of 1940, the Army contracted with Bell Labs and Western Electric to manufacture Army radar units (Fagen 1978 Pg. 82). Fearing German commando attacks on narrow Sandy Hook (Zahl 1968 Pg. 73) and needing more space for the expanding work, in 1941, plans were made to locate a safer coastal location. A team visited Army bases as far south as Mississippi to find a suitable location (Vic Friedrich, personal communication 1999). When the old Marconi station in Wall Township was placed up for sale by The King’s College the Army purchased the land and the college relocated to Delaware. The NPS Form 10-900-a
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radar division pioneers, Col. Roger B. Colton, Lt. Col. Rex Corput Jr., John Marchetti, John Slattery, Paul Watson, Harold Zahl and others relocated to Wall Township (historic photo 31). The new laboratory was initially called the “Signal Corps
Radar Laboratory,” until intelligence services in Washington pointed out
that “radar” was a classified word. Signs in front of the Marconi
Hotel (9001) needed to be repainted, all stationery reprinted, badges reissued,
and the bus from Asbury Park had “Radar Laboratory” removed from the route
sign. Mr. A. E. Anderson, who was on travel duty the day new badges
were issued, may have the only surviving “RADAR LABORATORY” badge (A. E.
Anderson, email 10/18/98). On March 31, 1942 the
Camp Evans functioned as the nerve center of the Army’s secret wartime radar research and development, using and coordinating the work of academic laboratories and private contractors like Bell Telephone Laboratories, the Radiation Laboratory at MIT, Lincoln Laboratories in Massachusetts and Westinghouse in Maryland. The Signal Corps in the past could do its own research and development. Faced with a Second World War and exploding equipment needs, the Signal Corps was overloaded with the burden of getting equipment into all theatres, incorporating improvements and training. During the war, 3000 officers and civilians worked at Camp Evans (Guerlac 1987 Pg. 119). The first task at Camp Evans was the continued development and continuous improvement of the Army long-wave early warning radar, the SCR-268, 270, and 271. Radar sets produced by Western Electric and Westinghouse, with many undergoing final assembly and testing at Camp Evans. These radar sets saw use in all theatres of War, protected the US mainland, Panama Canal and other strategic locations. Sets were sent to the British and other allies. Some SCR-268 radar sets were sent to the USSR as a part of lend-lease (Getting 1989 Pg. 93). Upgraded models even saw action in Korea. Initially, the U.S. radar was considered inferior to British radar until side by side field tests proved otherwise (Zahl 1968 Pg. 62). The Historical Electronic Museum in Maryland has complete SCR-268 and SCR-584 radar units. A dataplate on a radar component reads “BC-404A Manufactured by Western Electric Co. Designed at The Signal Corps Radar Laboratory, Belmar, New Jersey”. When the National Defense Research Committee’s (NDRC) Radiation Laboratory (RAD Lab) of MIT offered to assist in radar research, the Signal Corps was more than happy to assign the “long-haired” scientists the unfruitful microwave band. In the 1930’s, microwave radar was explored by the Signal Corps but was abandoned for lack of a powerful transmitter. The Signal Corps officers felt this would keep the professors occupied while the military fought the war (Zahl 1968 Pg. 66; Thompson 1966 Pg. 625). To be effective in combat conditions electronic creativity needed to be backed by sound military procedures, technical documentation, training, proper sparing levels, component failure analysis, and constant upgrades. As good as the civilian laboratory engineering was, there was no substitute for Signal Corps deployment experience and procedures. At times, the civilian laboratories and the military had strained relationships. The stressful development part of WWII was a battle of wits against the Axis. It was fought in stateside laboratories with long hours leading to the breaking of new scientific and engineering ground. Much of the contracting, military specification, and technical drawings for industrial production, was done at Camp Evans. In spite of this military skepticism, the RAD Lab engineered the microwave based SCR-584 gun-laying radar, using the British cavity magnetron as a transmitter. The RAD Lab updated the Signal Corps and worked within their basic specifications (Buderi 1996 Pg. 127). It was up to the Signal Corps Radar Laboratory at Camp Evans to do production design for many of the SCR-584 components. An August 1942 report listed the component production drawings completed and those still in development (Thompson 1957 Pg.267). Louis Smullin of MIT worked with his Camp Evans counterpart, Ken Geroff, sending components to Camp Evans for testing and approval (Louis Smullin personal communication December 1998). Eventually the organizations developed a respect for the accomplishments of the other and close personal friendship developed (Getting 1989 Pg. 130). An undertaking of extreme secrecy, Radio Countermeasure technology (RCM) consisted of jamming and deception methods to render enemy radio and radar equipment useless. RCM was housed in the Marconi hotel (9001) as the “Radio Countermeasures Section,” later known as the Electronic Warfare Laboratory (EWL; EWL ca. 1981; Thompson 1964, Pg. 309 & 325, Reed & Swanson 1996, Pg.17). The Camp Evans Laboratory coordinated and cooperated with the Navy, Harvard Radio Research Laboratory (RRL), MIT and Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to meet this wartime challenge. This was the expansion of WWI radio jamming to a new level (Signal Corps 1922, Pg. 370). This was a battle of scientific and engineering wits, ingenuity and electronic creativity, which NPS Form 10-900-a &nbs |
