The Mercersburg Journal December 29. 2021

 

Cannonball Tower
Cannonball Tower Cross Mt. PA
Type of Activity	Presidential Communications
Location
Location	Mercersburg, PA
Date of Activity	December 29 2021
Coordinates	39.728313 N -77.992115 W

                      The water tower that was not a water tower    

       By Chris Ardinger

The Cannonball Tower           Photo by Chris Ardinger  

Mercersburg area natives have many stories and thoughts regarding the tower located  atop Cross Mountain, which is in the "punch bowl" area located off Shimpstown Road in Montgomery Township. A few newcomers to the community have even more questions.    

The tower is easily visible when looking toward Whitetail Ski Resort. The visibility and secrecy behind the tower is what makes it interesting!          

Many locals believe the tower Is simply an old fire or water tower, but in reality, the now decommissioned tower was much more than that: It was the "Cannonball" microwave relay tower, operated by the U.S. Navy Special Programs Office on behalf of the White House Military Office and White House Communications Agency (WHCA).

According to John Cross , the Non-commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) at the site, back in the day, the large water truck that was driven into Mercersburg a few times a month provided a good cover story for a water tower; site personnel were on civilian status and were able to "blend in." 

Earlier this year, this writer and a few local explorers were given permission to visit the site. The now gated entrance was put in place several years ago; the private owners of the site commented that the gate came after many years of vandalism and destruction.

 At one point in time, the site was more accessible (although still located on private property) and there are many local individuals, Jerry Houpt being one, that recall spending time with friends at the site. Houpt and his friends enjoyed the views and the nature around the tower and expressed frustration regarding those individuals who "ruined it for everyone else" by vandalizing the site, rather than trying to preserve it.

Site owners and surrounding property owners (there are many individuals that own mountain ground accessible to the tower) say that the federal government has often said "they will he back at some point," interring that eventually they will deconstruct the tower. Records indicate that although the tower is now located on private property, the Feds still have ownership of the tower itself. Based on local accounts, it seems doubtful that resources would ever be devoted to deconstructing the tower.

Cross Mountain is the highest peak in the Bear Pond Mountains, a sub range of the Appalachian Mountains. Before it was a microwave relay tower, the Cannonball site was indeed a fire-watch tower.

 Hearthstone Mountain, which is located on the Clear Spring, MD side of the mountain is around the same elevation; that mountainside is also notable and even has past ties to Cannonball.

The tower was completed in the early 1960s and was part of the Presidential Emergency Facility microwave network established during the Cold War. This particular network and a series of similar towers connected Camp David, Raven Rock (Site R) and many other pertinent sites to tie White House and key bodies of government in the event of a nuclear attack or other emergency. There was also a microwave relay route to a tower called "Cowpuncher" that continued on to Mount Weather, an emergency command center operated by FEMA and located in Bluemont, VA. 

The 103-foot-tall Cannonball tower, with its 25-foot diameter and 15 inches of reinforced concrete was decommissioned in 1977. The technology for the communications site was state of the art at the time, with eight stories, including a basement and two additional stories tor the antenna. It provided essential emergency communications tor the nation.

The tower design included mechanical equipment in the basement, including a 100-pr. underground cable buried from an AT&T underground communications site on adjoining Hearthstone Mountain.

The first floor included a decontamination area, and the second floor was the tool/mechanical shop. The third floor contained offices for station personnel. The fourth floor held the cryptographic communication center, and the fifth floor held the voice multiplexing equipment for the microwave routes. The sixth floor is where stationed personnel bunked, up to twelve people, and the seventh floor was their dining and pantry area. Finally, the eighth floor was where more microwave equipment was located, equipment that connected other towers and facilities, such as the White House and the "Cactus" and "Corkscrew" towers.

A ladder connected all floors. There was a hatch that closed to prevent a severe tall; basically, it would only allow you to tall from one floor to another. In addition, Cannonball had a fully functional helicopter pad, generator, garage, two room cabin, five-ton dump truck with a snowplow, and a water tanker truck.

The helicopter landing area is still relatively intact. John Cross recounts that during the time he was stationed at Cannonball, the Presidential Executive Flight Detachment practiced training exercises, and Marine One and Army One would land at the site and other such sites, in darkness and in daylight.

As mentioned, Hearthstone Mountain, which is approximately two miles away from Cannonball, houses an AT&T communications facility. Because the Cannonball site is decommissioned, there is no partnership between the two facilities today. 

However, accounts from the 1960s and 70s indicate they once were connected, especially by the 100-pr. cable buried between the two, which means 100 pairs of communication cables.

According to John Cross, " I would test the circuits monthly with the AT&T guys and we talked about a tew things. These guys were local and were most curious about the touch and go landings that the Presidential White Tops would do. I was over at Hearthstone several times, but no offered of a tour. I know that this was strictly a communications site, and no missiles were ever installed."

   The road leading to the tower.                Photo liy Chris Ardinger

In an article by Paul Bertorelli from the Morning Herald in 1977, the AT&T site was a 70,000 square foot telephone switching station used for military traffic and other emergency communications. Much of that facility is located underground. 

Special thanks to NCOIC John Cross and properly owners, Rodney Murphy, and others, who offered comments on the tower. Please remember that the tower is located on private property. 

For more information, John Cross has a very informative blog with additional information about White House communications during that time period, as well as

Several photos: https://whcacannonball.blogspot.com/p/presidential-emergency-facility-site.html