"The White House Communications Agency: A Look into Its Past, and Present ": Presidential Emergency Facility Site 3

Round Top Summit, North Mountain

North Mountain's Round top summit site of Cowpuncher Tower
in the distance seen from Shanghai, WV..

Elevation

1,673 ft. (509.9 m)

Location

Berkeley County, West Virginia, USA

Range

Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians

Topo map

₊39.419821 N -78.08889 W

North Mountain is a mountain ridge within the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The span consists of 20 miles (32 km) of ridge line and is noticeably higher in elevation, containing the mountains highest point of 1,673 feet (510 m) above sea-level at its Round Top summit near Arden in Berkeley County, West Virginia. North Mountain, as early settlers in the eighteenth century referred to the stream as to the "back" of the ridge when approaching it from the east. . North Mountain’s Roundtop Summit is also the site of a deactivated microwave relay station that was used during the Cold War.

Tower History and Purpose

Roundtop Summit, on North Mountain and west of Arden WV. Its proximity to Washington, DC and other key locations made it a prime choice for a microwave relay station during the Cold War. In the late 1950’s/early 1960’s the Federal Government built a station here.

Cowpuncher Tower prior to Demolition

Construction of Cowpuncher tower was complete during the late 50’s early 60’s. Originally named Copper the cylindrical tower was renamed Cowpuncher in 1965. Cowpuncher was exactly the same construction and served the same purpose as Cannonball. The tower was part of a microwave network designed to provide communications to the President of the United States and emergency communications in the event of a nuclear attack. The Microwave route connected Camp David, Mt Weather, Site R and other key bodies of government directly to the White House.

Not only would the microwave network provide reliable communications, but the various sites also could serve as relocation facilities to withstand a nuclear attack. From these sites, the President could communicate with and address the American people.

Each facility had equipment to carry voice, video and secure voice and teletype. Of course, with our cellular networks today, such facilities are no longer necessary and even private citizens can communicate as long as the cellular towers still function.

There were seven facilities in the Presidential Emergency Network, each operated by the White House Communications Agency. Manned switchboards and communication centers were at each terminal. These communications centers became active in the event of a national emergency.

The sites were:

Site 1. Cactus Terminal, Camp David, Thurmont, MD
Site 2. Cannonball Relay, Mercersburg, PA
Site 3. Cowpuncher Relay, Martinsburg, WV
Site 4. Cartwheel Terminal, Washington, DC
Site 5. Crystal Terminal, Mount Weather, VA
Site 6. Cadre (or Creed) Terminal, aka Site R, Blue Ridge Summit, PA
Site 7. Corkscrew Relay, Boonsboro, MD
Final Destination. Crown, the White House, Washington, DC

The facility was deactivated in 1970 closed in 1977 and from that point was a popular place late at night with a particular group of people. The tower was demolished around 1983 surprisingly it was toppled in one piece.