The Ground Observer Corps in Glenville
A F-94 Starfire plane flies past the Glenville Hill Aircraft Observation Tower.
The Glenville Hill Fire Station was constructed with an attached aircraft observation tower in the 1950s as part of the civil defense efforts.
A volunteer with binoculars scans the skies for enemy airplanes.
Officials meet in the Ground Observation Corps' Aircraft Observation Tower at the Glenville Hill Fire Station.
Two volunteers look at a chart in the Aircraft Observation Tower.
Volunteers watch for planes from the windows of the Aircraft Observation Tower.
Frank and Stephanie Robinson enjoy a cup of tea during their shift as observers in the tower.
A unique feature of the Glenville Hill Fire Station is the Aircraft Observation Tower used by the Ground Observation Corps during the Cold War to look for enemy aircraft. This tower was not included in the original plans for the fire station when it was first proposed in 1954, but by the time the building was constructed in 1956, it was featured prominently in the design.
The Ground Observation Corps operated under the U.S. Airforce Civil Defense service, and was comprised of 750,000 volunteers at 16,000 posts across the country. The volunteers from Glenville ranged in age from 13 to well into their late 70s, and they provided round the clock surveillance of the skies. When an unidentified object was spotted, the observers used a specially dedicated phone line that connected them directly with the Airforce in Albany to report it.
The Glenville Ground Observation Corps was first organized in 1954, and it was disbanded in 1958 when the Airforce and Army acquired advanced radar systems, eliminating the need for volunteers to watch the sky.