Greenbrier Bunker (White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia)

USA / West Virginia / White Sulphur Springs / White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
 bunker, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, underground facility
Built in 1959 at the same time as an addition to the hotel, to maintain secrecy. Meant to house the U.S. Congress in case of a nuclear attack, complete with House and Senate chambers, a broadcast studio, dormitories, kitchens and even a crematorium.

In 1991, Washington Post journalist Ted Gup revealed the secret in the most expensive newspaper exclusive in recent history, since it nullified the billions of taxdollars spent to build and maintain the facility. However the bunker had been obsolete for decades, because it was designed in an era when nuclear weapons would be delivered by planes, and there would be hours of warning before an attack - enough time to evacuate Congress from Washington to West Virginia. Within a few years of the bunker's completion, the warning time had been reduced to minutes due to submarine-based nuclear weapons.

The government decommissioned the bunker after the article ran. Most of the bunker is used today for data storage, but the upper level it is open for tours.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Greek_Island
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   37°47'4"N   80°18'32"W

Comments

  • There was more to this site then using the hotel as a cover. The rugged mountains in the area meant that Soviet rockets would only have to miss by a mile or two and the bunker could survive even the biggest blasts. Of course the hotel would be toast, literally.
This article was last modified 9 months ago