Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Paintball field with a Cold War past.
Blastcamp Paintball & Airsoft is a staple of weekend fun in Hobart, Indiana. As you're running through the course and desperately trying to avoid getting hit by paintballs or airsoft BBs, you'll notice some peculiar things. Ruined buildings with military markings, huge rusted radar towers, and other signs that this might not have always been a paintball field. As it turns out, the property used to play a key role in the defense of the US during the Cold War. In its heyday, the property where Blastcamp sits was known as Nike Missile Base C-47 and was one of the 32 Nike Missile bases that dotted this region from the 1950s up until the 1970s. Strategically placed to defend the industrious Calumet Region, these missile sites were the last line of defense if the USSR had ever attacked the US with nuclear weapons. However, as the Cold War slowly melted away, so did the need for these bases. C-47 no longer packs an atomic punch, but today it hosts a more lighthearted form of warfare. Across Indiana producer, Jonathan Papoutsis, peels back the paint to uncover the intense history of the Nike Missile Program in Northwestern Indiana.
#paintball #airsoft #coldwar #soviet #chicago #hammond #gary #atomicbomb #nuclear #nuke #1950s #fallout #nikemissile #military #plane #army #airforce #russia #usa #history #indiana #worldhistory #duckandcover #old #ruins #abandoned #abandonedbuildings #exploration #ussr #paint #calumet
Paintball field with a Cold War past.
Blastcamp Paintball & Airsoft is a staple of weekend fun in Hobart, Indiana. As you're running through the course and desperately trying to avoid getting hit by paintballs or airsoft BBs, you'll notice some peculiar things. Ruined buildings with military markings, huge rusted radar towers, and other signs that this might not have always been a paintball field. As it turns out, the property used to play a key role in the defense of the US during the Cold War. In its heyday, the property where Blastcamp sits was known as Nike Missile Base C-47 and was one of the 32 Nike Missile bases that dotted this region from the 1950s up until the 1970s. Strategically placed to defend the industrious Calumet Region, these missile sites were the last line of defense if the USSR had ever attacked the US with nuclear weapons. However, as the Cold War slowly melted away, so did the need for these bases. C-47 no longer packs an atomic punch, but today it hosts a more lighthearted form of warfare. Across Indiana producer, Jonathan Papoutsis, peels back the paint to uncover the intense history of the Nike Missile Program in Northwestern Indiana.
#paintball #airsoft #coldwar #soviet #chicago #hammond #gary #atomicbomb #nuclear #nuke #1950s #fallout #nikemissile #military #plane #army #airforce #russia #usa #history #indiana #worldhistory #duckandcover #old #ruins #abandoned #abandonedbuildings #exploration #ussr #paint #calumet
