The abandoned Laurentian military base
The abandoned Laurentian military base

The abandoned Laurentian military base

The abandoned Laurentian military base

Ruins of the Cold War

Saint-Adolphe d'Howard (Quebec), Canada

Closed in 1987, the former Canadian military base located in St-Adolphe-d'Howard began its operations in 1950. Its mission: monitor the airspace in southwestern Quebec and northeastern Ontario. True vestige of the Cold War between the Western bloc and the Eastern bloc, the military base was operated by Canada as part of the NORAD organization (namely North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD.

Created in 1957 and named « North American Air Defense Command », it will be renamed NORAD in March 1981. It is an US-Canadian organization whose mission is to monitor the North American airspace.

This military base located in Saint-Adolphe was part of the Pinetree Line which consisted of a network of 33 radar stations under Canada-US jurisdiction ranging along the 49th parallel to protect North America from possible air attacks from the USSR.

While new technologies made these facilities obsolete, these military bases were successively replaced by the Mid-Canada Line and DEW Line, each further north.

Related content

The Buzludzha monument
Buzludzha, (Bulgaria)
A historical brief

We are in Bulgaria, a small state of Central Europe who joined the European Union in 2007 and still relatively unknown outside its touristy areas of the Black Sea.

The construction of the building began in 1974 and the...

The abandoned Rochester Subway
Rochester, New York (United States)

In 1918 the Erie Canal was re-routed to by-pass downtown Rochester, and in 1919 the abandoned canal was bought to serve as a grade-separated route for the heavy "inter-urban" streetcars that were seen as obstructing surface street traffic. Tracks...

Belchite, a remnant of the Spanish Civil War
Belchite, (Spain)

We are in September 1937 in the small village of Belchite located about 50 kilometers from Zaragoza. The Spanish Civil War has been raging for a year already and thousands of Spaniards died. By the end of the conflict in April 1939, they will be...

The old parochial cinema
Gaspésie, Quebec (Canada)

In 1937, we are in the golden age of cinema and in these Gaspé lands, the pastor of this small coastal village is looking for a way to finance the modern church to which he dreams. Convincing parishioners to provide wood and time to build a small...