CFS Baldy Hughes
Closed radar station
Canadian Forces Station Baldy Hughes (ADC ID: C-20) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 22.3 miles (35.9 km) south-southwest of Prince George, British Columbia. It was closed in 1988.
It was operated as part of the Pinetree Line network controlled by NORAD.
History
As a result of the Cold War and with the expansion of a North American continental air defence system, The site at Baldy Hughes was selected as a site for a United States Air Force (USAF) radar station, one of the many that would make up the Pinetree Line of Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) radar sites. Construction on the base began in 1952 and was completed in 1953.
The base was manned by members of the USAF's Air Defense Command (ADC) 918th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, being known as Baldy Hughes Air Station. In June 1953, operations began at the unit's permanent home. The station was equipped with AN/FPS-3C, AN/FPS-502, AN/FPS-20A; AN/TPS-502, and AN/FPS-6B radars.
As a GCI base, the 918th's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. These interceptors were based at the 25th Air Division at McChord Air Force Base in Washington.
“CFS Baldy Hughes” enters the record as closed radar station. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Baldy, Hughes and Closed can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“CFS Baldy Hughes” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Baldy, Hughes and Closed provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5010819. Authority coordinates are 53.618, -122.936. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1988, 1952 and 1953.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “CFS Baldy Hughes”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow CFS Baldy Hughes primary sources, CFS Baldy Hughes archive and Baldy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “CFS Baldy Hughes”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “CFS Baldy Hughes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.