Naval Ordnance Test Station Inyokern, China Lake Pilot Plant, Pilot Plant Road, China Lake, Kern County, CA

Significance: The China Lake Pilot Plan is nationally significant for its rol in the development and production of propellants, chiefly solid rocket motors, installed in the earliest Navy rockets used during World War II. The plant is also significant for its role in research and development, testing and evaluation of the first generation of Cold War Navy rockets. The China Lake Pilot Plant contains a unique set of buildings designed as a functional group for work with a specific type of propellant used in a specific generation of rockets, namely the first generation of American air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. Nearly all of the buildings are constructed of thick reinforced concrete. The building forms express their functions, although that function had long been superseded and can be appreciated only in the context of the first generation of research and production conducted here. There are 76 original structures and 68 newer structures in the China Lake Pilot Plant complex

Survey number: HABS CA-2774

china lake acres ordnance test inyokern naval ordnance test station inyokern pilot plant china lake pilot plant pilot plant road china lake kern county california oliver g bowen william b dewey historic american buildings survey holmes and narver elaine jackson retondo palmer sabin bruce h sage photo ultra high resolution high resolution navy us navy china lake test range air to air missile library of congress

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html