Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity
The Harvey Point Defense Testing Facility, located on a peninsula in Perquimans County, North Carolina, along the Albemarle Sound.
History
The point was originally occupied during the 1670s by the Harvey Family, including North Carolina's first native-born governor, Thomas Harvey. Hence the name Harvey Point.
World War II
Courthouse records indicate that in November 1942 the United States Navy purchased the point, roughly 1,200 acres, for $41,751. The Navy then constructed an air station on the property for use during World War II.
After the war, the air station served as a blimp base until 1958 when the Navy announced Harvey Point would serve as the testing grounds for the Martin P6M Seamaster, an experimental long-range bomber. The project was thrown out in August 1959 when the Navy determined the aircraft wasn't successful enough for it to continue providing support for the program. Then, in 1961, the Navy returned to the property and announced that the property was closed to the public; it has remained that way ever since.
"The Point"
During the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the CIA code-named the base ISOLATION TROPIC and secretly stored weapons for the operation there. Following the invasion, the CIA continued to rely on Harvey Point as part of their continuing effort to undermine Fidel Castro.
Harvey Point later became well-known as "The Point", a training facility for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), although this has never been formally acknowledged by the U.S. Government. It is a sister facility to its more well-known CIA counterpoint, "The Farm", located at Camp Peary, near Williamsburg, Virginia. Today, the CIA continues to use "The Point" as a training facility for paramilitary warfare, demolitions, and unconventional weaponry. As of 2007, Harvey Point remains closed to the public and access to the property is still highly restricted.