" The media was also told that this area was going to be a bomb testing area for the military. They were told nothing about the testing of the U-2 spy planes. When asked about the spotting of a U-2 plane in the area, representative of the base said that the plane was just there to make weather observations for the Air Weather Service of the US Air Force. It was later learned that this base was called "Watertown" (Wallace 1997).
Over the next few years testing continued to take place here. During 1957, a memo was sent out that stated that Watertown would continue operation through June 30, and possibly for a year after that. It is said by this time that testing of the U-2 spy planes had stopped by this time (Cambell 1996).
During the 1960s is when the base "Watertown" officially got the name Area 51. The base was given the name because that was what the area would show up as on most maps and documents for the next two decades to come. Although the U-2 program had stopped, a new program, the A-12, had now started up (Cambell 1996). This program was yet another covert program by the CIA, like the U-2 spy plane.
Also in 1960, Area 51 got a nice upgrade. The base got new hangers, dormitories, runways, and a fuel storage facility. The plane runway was extended to eight thousand, five hundred feet, and it was covered by seventy-four thousand, nine hundred feet of concrete. Three Navy hangers were built on the North side of the base, and one hundred Navy housing buildings were also added here. A new warehouse and shop were also built, and the old buildings were repaired (Wallace 1997). What does this have to do with anything? If this area was really built to be a bombing range like the government said, then why was there a need for all of these new buildings and runways? .
Over the next year and a half, many new types of planes and helicopters were sent to Area 51 for test runs and experiments.