Project Greek Island: The Greenbrier Nuclear Bunker, USA

In the 1960s, a top-secret nuclear bunker was built underneath the luxurious Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia to house all 535 members of Congress in the event of a nuclear attack.

Although a closely guarded secret, parts of the bunker were, in fact, part of the Greenbrier Hotel (which happens to have the most amazing interior design by renowned Dorothy Draper) and would have been sealed off by secret blast doors in the event of an attack. Conferences were regularly held in the halls intended to be used for sessions of Congress, with guests blissfully unaware that they were inside a top-secret nuclear bunker.

A hidden passage, marked by a door which reads, “Danger: High Voltage Keep Out,” leads to the rest of the bunker. In the event of an attack, members of Congress would have first been ushered to the decontamination room, where they would have stripped, showered, and put on uncontaminated clothes. The dormitories comprise 18 rooms, each built to house 60 people in metal bunk beds. There is also a kitchen and a 400-seat cafeteria, which was at one point decorated with fake windows featuring scenic views.

The bunker’s power room includes a “pathological waste incinerator” designed to cremate bodies. The bunker also has a hospital, operating room, and pharmacy, which once kept a plentiful supply of antidepressants. The bunker maintained “a tiny jail with two boxes of straitjackets” just in case “congressmen went bonkers” and a stash of riot gear.

The bunker also includes vast television, radio, and communications facilities. In the event of an attack, members of Congress would have been expected to give speeches broadcast to whatever was left of the American population. The TV conference room even includes a backdrop of the Capital Building, giving the illusion of normalcy.

After its construction, the Greenbrier bunker was maintained by 12-15 permanent government employees who worked undercover as members of an Arlington-based television repair company called Forsythe Associates, who pretended to be doing TV work for the hotel. The bunker remained secret until 1992, when a Washington Post article revealed its existence. The bunker was quickly decommissioned, being useless now – the secure location was one of the primary guarantees for its defence.

 Part of a long-term project I am working on called "How We Learned to Stop Worrying".

Hidden blast door to the nuclear bunker. Hotel guests walked through the hidden door into the bunker for conferences and trade fairs with no idea they were entering a nuclear bunker.

Decontamination Room. In the event of an attack, members of Congress would have first been ushered to the decontamination room, where they would have stripped, showered, and put on uncontaminated clothes.

Exhibition Hall. This room was used to stage trade fairs and exhibitions and would have been used as a working area to the aides of the members of Congress in the event of a nuclear attack.

Television, radio, and communications facilities. In the event of a nuclear attack, members of Congress would have been expected to give speeches broadcast to whatever was left of the American population. The TV conference room even includes a backdrop of the Whitehouse and Capital Building, giving the illusion of normalcy.

Communal showers in the bunker

Dormitories. The dormitories comprise 18 rooms, each built to house 60 people in metal bunk beds. There is also a kitchen and a 400-seat cafeteria, which was at one point decorated with fake windows featuring scenic views.

Canteen, which would have fed the one thousand-plus people housed in the bunker

Television, radio, and communications facilities

The bunker has a hospital, operating room, and pharmacy, which once kept a plentiful supply of antidepressants

A model of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the president that commissioned the bunker. This room was used by the government emplyees maintinging the bunker, who were pretending to by TV repair men working for the hotel.

Part of the Greenbrier Hotel, with interior design by Dorothy Draper and Carleton Varney

Part of the Greenbrier Hotel, with interior design by Dorothy Draper and Carleton Varney

Deanna Hylton, a guide at the bunker, sitting in the Governor's Hall, built to hold the House of Representatives in the event of a nuclear attack. The hotel used this hall to hold conferences during peaceful times, with those partaking having no idea they were in a top-secret nuclear bunker.