RSL Site Information

(Adapted from Historic American Engineering Record, HAER No.

ND-9-V, Remote Launch Operations Building, Remote Sprint Launch Site #1, Building 1110
ND-9-Z, Remote Launch Operations Building, Remote Sprint Launch Site #2, Building 2110
ND-9-AD, Remote Launch Operations Building, Remote Sprint Launch Site #3, Building 3110
ND-9-AH, Remote Launch Operations Building, Remote Sprint Launch Site #4, Building 4110)

Part II. Architectural Information

D. Site

The four RSL sites, which were located within 10 to 20 mi of the MSCB, were in the general area of the Minuteman missiles which they were to defend. Each occupied from 37 to 45 acres of land. The sites were composed of sentry stations, heat sinks, fuel storage tanks, waste stabilization ponds, a Sprint missile launch area containing 12 to 16 Sprint launch stations, and a buried, reinforced concrete RLOB, which controlled and monitored the RSL sites as the MSCB directed.

1. General Setting and Orientation:

RSL 1 is situated on 40.61 acres located approximately 1,560 ft above mean sea level (msl) and situated in the southeast quarter of Section 1, Township 158 North, Range 62 West of the Fifth Principal Meridian, Ramsey County, North Dakota.

RSL 2 is situated on 35.75 acres located approximately 1,603 ft above mean sea level (msl) and situated in sections 16, 17, 20, and 21, Township 162 North, Range 60 West of the Fifth Principal Meridian, Cavalier County, North Dakota.

RSL 3 is situated on 43.22 acres located approximately 1,500 ft above mean sea level (msl) and situated in the eastern half and southwestern quarter of Section 14, Township 161 North, Range 57 West of the Fifth Principal Meridian, Cavalier County, North Dakota.

RSL 4 is situated on 50 acres located approximately 1,603 ft above mean sea level (msl) and situated in the eastern half of Section 28 and the western half of Section 27, Township 158 North, Range 59 West of the Fifth Principal Meridian, Walsh County, North Dakota.

2. Historic Landscape and Design:

Land Use: In the four county area of the SRMSC, land use is almost exclusively agricultural; the landscape is dominated by cultivated crops, farmsteads, wetlands, wooded stream banks, shelterbelts, municipal skylines (primarily grain elevators and water towers), and radio and microwave towers. The rural landscape is relatively flat, drained by intermittent streams to the Red River. The most prominent natural landscape feature is the Pembina Hills along the Pembina Escarpment near RSL 3.

RSL 1 is in northern Ramsey County about 0.8 mi south of Cavalier County and 3 mi west of the small town of Hampden; 96 percent of the area with 6,562 ft is agricultural with less than 3 percent wooded and occasional wetlands. The limited topographic relief ranges from 1,544 to 1,575 ft msl, with RSL 1 at 1,555 ft msl.

RSL 2 is in Cavalier County about 8 mi north-northwest of Langdon and about 12 mi south of the Canadian border; 96 percent of the area within 6,562 ft is agricultural with less than 3 percent wooded and occasional wetlands. The limited topographic relief ranges from 1,575 to 1,610 ft above msl, with RSL 2 at 1,603 ft above msl.

RSL 3 is in Cavalier County, about 17 mi east of Langdon and 5 mi west-northwest of the PAR site; approximately 50 percent of the area within 6,562 ft is agricultural with about 45 percent wooded and occasional, though limited, wetlands. The considerable topographic relief ranges from 1,280 ft to 1,540 ft above msl, with RSL 3 at 1,500 ft above msl.

RSL 4 is about 1.5 mi southwest of Fairdale in Walsh County; 96 percent of the area within 6,562 ft is agricultural with less than 3 percent wooded and occasional wetlands. The limited topographic relief ranges from 1,584 ft to 1,640 ft above msl, with RSL 4 at 1,603 ft above msl.