A large hilltop radar site near Boron is significant, currently and historically. Originally associated with nearby Edwards Air Force Base, the site was developed as one of 28 sites in an early large-scale national air defense radar system, known as the Lashup Radar Network. In 1954 the RAND Corporation installed an early test for the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) system at Boron, and based partially on its success here, the system was eventually installed at more than 150 Air Force radar stations around the country by the late 1950s, and the nation’s first truly integrated and centralized nationwide radar system soon became operational. Boron was demilitarized in 1975, with the radar retained by the FAA, which still operates it as part of the Joint Surveillance System, composed of a few hundred radar sites, which are part of the nation’s current civilian/military aviation radar network. Across the highway is another, smaller radar tower, which is part of the national weather radar network, comprised of 159 NEXRAD doppler radar towers like this one, installed across the nation.