James Park is operated by a local development authority which has sold or rented many of the residential units.

Construction began in 1951 under general contractor Diamond Construction and it went operational on November 1, 1953, as part of the Pinetree Line network of radar stations when the ground control intercept operation was moved from RCAF Station Chatham.

The United States Air Force also operated four Pinetree Line stations further east at Stephenville, St. Anthony, Gander and St. John's on Newfoundland.

Radio callsigns used by the St. Margarets radar station throughout its operation from 1953 to 1988 included "MOHAWK", "BROMIDE", "CHOPSTICK", "MIDWIFE" and "BILLYBOY".

The St. Margarets station consisted of several radomes housing the early warning and ground control intercept radars, as well as supporting buildings including residences for personnel and a school.

That year saw the implementation of a partnership between the USAF and RCAF to form the North American Aerospace Defence Command or NORAD; consequently many Pinetree Line radar stations were upgraded for automation and consolidation of intercept data.

RCAF Station St. Margaret's radar equipment underwent an upgrade in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the operational implementation of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) System on November 1, 1963.

The SAGE upgrade in 1963 also saw RCAF Station St. Margarets become the designated Back Up Intercept Control - One (BUIC I) for the Bangor NORAD sector.

The SITU used a Baker Nunn satellite tracking camera system and this was augmented in 1978 by the Space Object Identification Telescope.

At that time St. Margarets reverted to simply a long-range radar site (in addition to the SITU) as its BUIC function was phased out.