Nahant MA East Point
In 1941 the site was used by the military for the construction of defensive fortifications for Boston Harbor. The fortifications consisted of a 5-inch cannon bunker as well as a larger 16-inch Coastal Defense cannon bunker and associated plotting room and triangulation towers. A Magnetic Loop station to detect submarines was housed in two smaller bunkers near the tip of East Point. In 1954 a Nike missile launcher site was constructed along the southeast rocky coast of the point that is now Lodge Park.
Northeastern University acquired the property and
Dr. Nathan “Doc” Riser was appointed the first Director of the
Marine Science Institute (now Marine
Science Center) in Nahant, a position he held until his retirement.
NIKE Missile Site 1959
