WARMINSTER PARK

Warminster Park is a continuing series of photographs from a Bucks County, PA  park with a rich history. It is located on the former site of the Johnsville Naval Air Development Center. “This site was acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II from the Brewster Aircraft Corporation; it served as a strategic locale for the weapons development and testing of modern aircraft. Later, it was a training facility for America’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs.” 
(from www.navairdevcen.org) 

“In 1952, the world’s largest human centrifuge was installed to help teach pilots how to handle the heavy pull of gravity—G forces—associated with high-performance aircraft. Later, NAWC became a training facility for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs."
(from www.nationaldefensemagazine.org) 

In 1995 the base was closed and most of the land was given to the Bucks County Federal Land Reuse Authority who turned over 243 acres to Warminster Township to form Warminster Community Park.

Today, a few of the original buildings remain, including the centrifuge where our first astronauts trained, and have been converted into the Johnsville Centrifuge & Science Museum.