This paper will examine how the Cold War and the buildings it left behind can offer a sense of heritage, memory, and identity to communities in New Jersey. This paper will examine three types of landscapes: fallout shelters and civil defense, the Nike missile batteries, and two military facilities (Fort Monmouth and Camp Evans). The importance of understanding the contemporary past helps archaeologists see the transitions between living memory and history. Chapter 2 will discuss central ideas of cultural heritage as landscape, memory, and identity and how it can be interpreted for Cold War landscapes. Chapter 4 will offer background information and history on passive and active defenses and military facilities. Fallout shelters were government propaganda to validate and convince the public that American was at war. Nike batteries were one of the earliest active defenses in early Cold War America, creating defenses for 19 cities. Fort Monmouth and Camp Evans were two major facilties that helped advance the war and created new technologies that advanced military and civillian life. Chapter 4 will discuss the different aspects of passive and active defenses and military facilities and how the public views them today. When studying New Jersey's Cold War history, it is uncertain how people are responding to these structures of a once active culture. Based on reasarch and materials gathered, it is not yet determined how communities respond to Cold War structures and understanding identities, memories, and heritage.