Redstone Arsenal is a U.S. Army post and a
census-designated placeA census-designated place is a type of place identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) located next to the city of
HuntsvilleHuntsville is a city, centrally located in the northern most part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located in Madison county and extends west into neighboring Limestone county. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison county, and the fourth largest city in Alabama. The 2000 census estimated...
in
Madison CountyMadison County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is a major part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the first to visit the state of Alabama. According to the Census'...
,
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and is part of the
Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical AreaThe Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area is the most populated sub-region of North Alabama, and is the second fastest growing region in the State of Alabama, with 510,088 living within the CSA...
. The primary tenant organizations are the
United States Army Aviation and Missile CommandThe United States Army Aviation and Missile Command is primarily responsible for life cycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned ground vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle weapon systems...
and the
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
Marshall Space Flight CenterThe George C. Marshall Space Flight Center , the original home of NASA, is a lead center for propulsion, Space Shuttle propulsion, Space Shuttle external tank, crew training and payloads, International Space Station design and construction, for computers, networks, and information management...
. The Redstone CDP has a population of 2,365 as of the 2000 census.
Geography
Redstone Arsenal is located at . According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Redstone CDP has a total area of 7.9 square miles (20.4 km²), all of it land.
Redstone Arsenal contains extensive wetland areas associated with the
Tennessee RiverThe Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley...
and several local springs, much of which is maintained by the
Wheeler National Wildlife RefugeThe Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is a 35,000 acre National Wildlife Refuge located along the Tennessee River near Decatur, Alabama...
.
History
There is a total of 929 prehistoric sites recorded on Redstone Arsenal to date according to the Redstone Arsenal Base Archaeologist. At least 22 of these sites have components dating to the Paleoindian Period (9200 to 8000 BC). The Paleoindian projectile point called the
Redstone Point was named after Redstone Arsenal where it was first identified.
Euroamerican settlers began to establish homesteads on the land that is now Redstone Arsenal by the first decade of the 19th century. Prior to the Civil War, the landscape was dominated by several large plantations, the remains of which survive as archaeological sites. The land played a peripheral role during the Civil War with activity limited to the posting of pickets along the Tennessee River bank. Following the Civil War, many of the large plantations were increasingly divided into smaller parcels owned by small farmers which included former slaves and their descendants. By the turn of the century, many of the farms were owned by absentee owners, with the land being worked by tenants and sharecroppers. The remains of hundreds of tenant and sharecropper houses still dot the landscape around the Installation.
In the beginning of the 20th century, the approximately area of rolling terrain, which contained some of the richest agricultural land in Madison County, comprised such small farming communities as Spring Hill, Pond Beat, Mullins Flat, and Union Hill. Cotton, corn, hay, livestock, and various fruits and vegetables were the primary agricultural products cultivated by the area’s inhabitants. Although there was no electricity, indoor plumbing, or telephones; few roads; and fewer cars or tractors, the people who lived in the area that one former resident recalled as being “nearly out of the world” prospered enough to support their own stores, mills, shops, gins, churches, and schools. A total of 46 historic cemeteries including slave cemeteries, plantation family cemeteries, and late 19th to early 20th century community cemeteries are maintained on the Installation.
Huntsville Arsenal
The Arsenal was established in 1941 as part of the mobilization leading up to US involvement in World War II. Over 550 families were displaced when the Army acquired the land. Over 300 of these were tenants and sharecroppers. Most of the landowners were allowed to salvage their assets and rebuild elsewhere. The remaining buildings were almost all razed by the War Department. A land-use agreement was arranged with the
Tennessee Valley AuthorityThe Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted...
(TVA) for the Army to use about of land along the Tennessee River front.
The military installation was originally composed of three separate entities: the Huntsville Arsenal and the Huntsville Depot (later the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot), which were operated under the auspices of the Chemical Warfare Service, and the Redstone Ordnance Plant operated by the Army Ordnance Department. The ordnance facility was renamed the Redstone Arsenal in 1943.
In the early years, the Arsenal operated as a production and stockpiling facility for chemical weapons such as
phosgenePhosgene is the chemical compound with the formula COCl2. This colorless gas gained infamy as a chemical weapon during World War I, and is also a valued industrial reagent and building block in organic synthesis. In low concentrations, its odor resembles freshly cut hay or grass. Some...
,
LewisiteLewisite is an organoarsenic compound, specifically an arsine. It was once manufactured in the U.S. and Japan as a chemical weapon, acting as a vesicant and lung irritant...
, and mustard gas. The use of toxic gases in warfare was banned under the Geneva Protocol of 1925, but the US agreed to sign only with the reservation that it be allowed to use chemical weapons against aggressors who used them. The facility also produced carbonyl iron powder (for radio and radar tuning), tear gas, and smoke and incendiary devices.(Reed and Langdale 2001) The
Redstone Army AirfieldRedstone Army Airfield or Redstone AAF is a military airport located at Redstone Arsenal, six miles southwest of the city of Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, USA. The Airfield was originally constructed for munitions testing through the 6th AAF Base Unit...
was established for the
6th Army Air ForcesThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. It was a component of the United States Army, divided functionally by executive order in 1942 into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the...
to test the incendiary devices in preparation for the firebombing of Japanese cities, which began in February 1945. In recognition of its production record, the Arsenal received the
Army-Navy ‘E’ AwardThe Army-Navy 'E’ Award was an honor presented to a company during World War 2 for excellence in production of war equipment. The award was also known as the Army-Navy Production Award. The award would consist of a pennant for the plant and emblems for all employees in the plant at the time the...
four times, the first on October 31, 1942.
Three days after the announcement of the Japanese surrender, production facilities at the Installation were put on standby. After the war, Huntsville Arsenal was briefly used as the primary storage facility for the Chemical Warfare Service, manufacture of gas masks, and dismantling of surplus incendiary bombs. Most of the wartime civilian workforce on the Arsenal was furloughed, dropping to 600 from a wartime high of around 4400. Much of the Arsenal land began to be leased for agriculture, and many of the buildings were leased for local industry. By 1947, the Installation was declared to be excess, the first step toward demilitarization. The Air Force abandoned a bid to use the Huntsville Arsenal, however, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army directed that the post be advertised for sale by July 1, 1949. The proposed sale never happened, though, because the Army found it needed this land for the new mission of developing and testing rocket systems. Thiokol Corporation moved operations to Redstone Arsenal from Maryland in the summer of 1949 to research and develop rocket propellants while
Rohm and HaasRohm and Haas Company, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based company, manufactures miscellaneous materials. A Fortune 500 Company, Rohm and Haas employs more than 17,000 people in 27 countries. The annual sales revenue of Rohm and Haas stands at about USD 8.9 billion. On July 10, 2008, The Dow...
began work on rockets and jet propulsion. Huntsville Arsenal was consolidated with the other two entities to become Redstone Arsenal.
Ordnance Corps
In 1948, the Army Chief of Ordnance designated Redstone Arsenal as the center for Ordnance rocket research and development. Then in April 1950, the Ordnance Research and Development Division Sub-Office (Rocket) at
Fort BlissFort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is TRADOC's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the National...
, Texas, arrived at Redstone Arsenal and became the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (with Major James Hamill acting as commander and
Wernher von BraunWernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was a German American rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, becoming one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States...
as Technical Director), which first developed a tactical missile, the "Major". By November 1951, the Experimental Missiles Firing Branch, headed by
Kurt H. DebusDr. Kurt Heinrich Debus was a Nazi Germany V-2 rocket scientist who in 1962 became the first director of the Kennedy Space Center after being brought to the United States under Operation Paperclip...
, was established and the
Redstone (rocket)First launched in 1953, the American Redstone rocket was a direct descendant of the German V-2. Redstone was used for the first live nuclear missile tests by the United States...
program was taking shape. In January 1953, the branch was redesignated the Missile Firing Laboratory and had three sections: Mechanical headed by Albert Zeiler; Guidance, Control & Networks headed by Hans Gruene; and Radio Frequency (RF) & Measurements headed by Karl Sendler. The first Redstone launch took place August 20, 1953, conducted by a team of 30 from the laboratory.
In 1954 at a meeting of the Spaceflight committee of the
American Rocket SocietyThe American Rocket Society began its existence on April 4, 1930, under the name of the American Interplanetary Society. It was founded by science fiction writers G. Edward Pendray, David Lasser, Laurence Manning and others. The members originally conducted their own rocket experiments in New York...
, Wernher von Braun proposed the idea of placing a
satelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
into orbit using the Redstone with clusters of small solid-fuel rockets on top. The proposal,
Project OrbiterProject Orbiter was a proposed United States spacecraft, an early competitor to Project Vanguard. It was jointly run by the United States Army and United States Navy. It was ultimately rejected by the Ad Hoc Committee on Special Capabilities, which selected Project Vanguard instead...
, was rejected in 1955, and the Laboratory became part of the
Army Ballistic Missile AgencyThe Army Ballistic Missile Agency was the agency formed to develop the US Army's first intermediate range ballistic missile. It was established at Redstone Arsenal on February 1, 1956 and commanded by Major General John B...
(ABMA) on February 1, 1956. Nevertheless, the ABMA laboratory successfully launched Explorer 1 on February 1, 1958, and the
Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC)The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command is primarily responsible for life cycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned ground vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle weapon systems...
was formed the next month. Six months after Explorer 1, President Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
), and on July 1, 1960, NASA's
Marshall Space Flight CenterThe George C. Marshall Space Flight Center , the original home of NASA, is a lead center for propulsion, Space Shuttle propulsion, Space Shuttle external tank, crew training and payloads, International Space Station design and construction, for computers, networks, and information management...
(the first NASA facility) was established in the heart of Redstone Arsenal, and ABMA's scientific and engineering staff (
Wernher von BraunWernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was a German American rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, becoming one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States...
's team) were transferred to MSFC.
Demographics
As of the
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 2,353 people, 487 households, and 446 families residing in the CDP. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 300.8 people per square mile (116.2/km²). There were 879 housing units at an average density of 111.8/sq mi (43.2/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 56.53%
WhiteRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 31.67%
BlackRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or
African AmericanRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.42%
Native AmericanRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 2.03%
AsianRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.80%
Pacific IslanderRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 3.34% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 4.82% from two or more races. 9.30% of the population were
HispanicRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or
LatinoRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race.
There were 487 households out of which 79.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.7% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 8.4% were non-families. 7.8% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.48 and the average family size was 3.67.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 32.9% under the age of 18, 19.2% from 18 to 24, 43.2% from 25 to 44, 4.6% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 150.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 170.1 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $35,435, and the median income for a family was $40,208. Males had a median income of $29,053 versus $24,063 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the CDP was $14,860. About 9.0% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
Military facilities
Redstone Arsenal became such in 1943, as a result of plans to create a second chemical weapons plant in addition to the existing plant at
Edgewood, MarylandEdgewood is a census-designated place in Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 23,378 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Edgewood is located at ....
. Workload was heavy during World War II, leading to construction of the Huntsville Arsenal nearby. Activity curtailed quickly after the war and in 1947, Redstone was placed on standby. Huntsville Arsenal was deactivated in 1949 with the remaining staff transferred to Redstone. That same year the Army's Ordnance Rocket Center was transferred to Redstone. Redstone was the home of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency when it was founded in 1956, but lost a number of facilities and personnel, including all space-related programs, to NASA in 1960.
Redstone Arsenal remains the center of testing, development, and doctrine for the U.S. Army's missile programs. Besides the Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone houses the Tactical UAV Project Office, Ordnance Munitions and Electronic Maintenance School
http://omems.redstone.army.mil/default.aspx?site_id=71&page_id=90, Redstone Technical Test Center (RTTC), and other operations. Redstone Arsenal also hosts the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center,
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
's center for propulsion analysis and development. The
Saturn VThe Saturn V was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. In total NASA launched thirteen Saturn V rockets with no loss of payload. It remains the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever brought to operational status from a...
moon rocket was developed here by
Wernher von BraunWernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was a German American rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, becoming one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States...
's team of rocket engineers.
See also
- Redstone Army Airfield
Redstone Army Airfield or Redstone AAF is a military airport located at Redstone Arsenal, six miles southwest of the city of Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, USA. The Airfield was originally constructed for munitions testing through the 6th AAF Base Unit...
- United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command is primarily responsible for life cycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned ground vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle weapon systems...
- Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center , the original home of NASA, is a lead center for propulsion, Space Shuttle propulsion, Space Shuttle external tank, crew training and payloads, International Space Station design and construction, for computers, networks, and information management...
- Titan Rain
Titan Rain was the U.S. government's designation given to a series of coordinated attacks on American computer systems since 2003. The attacks were labeled as Chinese in origin, although their precise nature and their real identities remain...
External links