St. Bonifacius was part of a Cold War missile defense network for the Twin Cities, joining proposed batteries at Bethel and Farmington, Minnesota, and Roberts, Wisconsin, under a headquarters command post at Fort Snelling. By October 1957, government officials were negotiating to buy land from farmers between Watertown and St. Bonifacius, and by July 1958 the facility was under construction; the control area was ready in August 1959 and the missile launch area in October. Missile Base Battery C of the Third Missile Battalion of the 68th Artillery operated the site after training at Fort Bliss, Texas. Of the unit's 115 officers and enlisted men, almost half were married, some brought their families for three-year tours, about one-third lived on site, and the rest lived in the community. In 1963, the base was reported to support the local economy through monthly food purchases, payroll, and home leasing and rentals. The battery operated without incident and never fired a missile. When strategic interests changed in 1971, it was closed along with the three other Twin Cities batteries and 23 Nike-Hercules installations in 15 states. Its fire control area, about one mile from the launch site to avoid damage from falling booster rockets, contained radar and missile controls, barracks, a mess hall, and administrative offices, while the elevated location improved radar reception. The launching area, built from standardized Army Corps of Engineers plans, stored missiles horizontally on racks in a concrete magazine five stories underground, fifty yards wide and two hundred yards long, divided into three sections with elevators carrying missiles to the surface and to permanently installed above-ground launchers, and it was surrounded by a buffer of farmland.