Civil Defense Sirens In NJ
The history of the Civil Defense sirens in New Jersey is a complicated one. New Jersey has various Urban centers such as Paterson, Newark, Trenton, Etc. In the 1950s
the large amount of people in this area along with a threat of nuclear war caused these cities and many others to install what are known as Civil Defense sirens. This was a direct response to the threat of bombings from in the Cold War. These sirens were installed primarily throughout the 50s, 60s, and up to the late 70s. The sirens sounded with two signals: a steady tone for alert was a early warning, and a wavering tone calls attack meant that an attack was imminent. The sirens however in the late '80s and early 90s were mostly deactivated or removed. This was because the Civil Defense Initiative had mostly disbanded at this point and there was no renewed interest. Therefore most of them just sit there today rusting. Very few of the civil defense sirens are left active and if they are left active they are repurposed for other uses.
CD Siren example in Hawthorne, NJ
A video of the Model 5T in Hawthorne sounding for its test, a video by North Jersey Sirens
An example of a Civil Defense siren can be seen in the town of Hawthorne, New Jersey. This town still has one of its original Model 5T's (commonly known as a Model 7T). This is a prime example of a Civil Defense siren because it follows everything that the Civil Defense standard set for it. It is dual tone and still to this day tests on Saturdays at 12:00 p.m. The siren is located on Van Winkle Avenue, very close to the bridge over Route 208. This siren however is not particularly reliable anymore. Even though it has been repurposed for other uses the siren is showing its age. The control box and timer setup are not reliable. Sometimes the siren does not sound. If you do go to hear this test and the siren fails do not be surprised. Even though the siren was repainted nothing else was done to refurbish it.