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Main locationCanyon Dr Whittier California 90601 US
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Amenities
Activities
BikingWalkingHikingOut-and-back trailJogging
Children
Good for kidsKid-friendly hikes
Pets
Dogs allowed outsideDogs allowed
Another reviewer mentioned wanting to know the history behind the name "Nike Hill". This site isn't named after a shoe company, though there is a connection. Both the shoe company and a Bell Labs missile project were named after Nike, the Greek goddess of VICTORY. During the Cold War, Los Angeles had 16 missile sites in ring surrounding the city with surface-to-air Nike-Ajax missiles to protect LA inhabitants from aerial threats. Most of these historic sites are on high topped hills like this one.
However, this hill was actually NOT the site of one of these missile pads. The LA-14 site (El Monte/Whittier Narrows) was located adjacent to the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, near where a US Army Reserve station is now (Potrero Ave/Lerma Rd). Other documents say it was a little closer– off Workman Mill Rd, near the site of the Rio Hondo athletic fields.
Either way, most documents agree that there was a guard house and plaque that were relocated here as a COMMEMORATIVE MISSILE SITE for both LA-14 (El Monte) and LA-29 (Brea/Rowland Heights; just west of the 57 FWY). Not sure when the relocation was done, but probably in the late 70s when most sites were demolished. An undated photo can be found in this review.
In 2009 it was evaluated and determined to be NOT eligible for protection from the California Register of Historical Resources. As of 2009, it was listed as "not affected" by landfill operations, but sat in an "engineered landfill slope and an area with natural slopes". It seems still present as of 2017, see if you can find it. The Puente Hills Landfill (closed in 2013 as the largest landfill in the country) will slowly (over the next 20-70 years) be turned into a large park. Nike Hill will be a major lookout and the master plan for the project notates possible interpretive panels detailing the history of this site, which would help inform more folks about this in the future!
