Titan 1 Missile Silo, Self-Portrait
Denver, CO

The Titan 1 Missiles, armed with nuclear warheads, were the first true inter-continental missiles. The program began in the late 1950s; the first missiles were brought on active duty in 1962, and all the missiles were taken out of service in 1965. (By 1965, the Titan 1 missiles were obsolete, replaced by Titan II missile program.) The Titan 1 missile program actually precipitated the Cuban Missile crisis, bringing the world closer to nuclear holocaust than it has ever been before or since.

The Titan 1 Missile silos were the largest and most complex of all the silos that were built to house intercontinental missiles. All of the silo was at least 60 feet underground, with some sections much deeper. A few have found new usages, but most of the silos remain abandoned as this one is.