America’s Secret Cold War Bunker: A Trip Through the Unassuming Greenbrier Hotel’s Hidden Underground Shelter

In the height of the Cold War, the threat of nuclear war loomed large, and American politicians sought refuge in underground facilities like the one located beneath the Greenbrier hotel in Sulfur Springs, West Virginia. Built in 1958, the luxury hotel sits atop an emergency shelter 229 meters underground, known as “Greek Island.” The shelter was equipped with everything needed to sustain life in case of a nuclear attack. It included a 20-28 ton blast door, a reinforced concrete shelter with 1,100 beds, a conference room, and an intensive care unit. Hidden behind false walls in the hotel, the bunker once contained six months’ worth of food, water, and medicine.

During its time as a top-secret facility, government employees posing as hotel electrical repairmen were responsible for restocking it over the years. In 1992, the Washington Post reported on the bunker through interviews with construction workers and government officials. The revelation led to its dissolution by US federal government. After two years of renovation work it opened to public in 2006. Today visitors can explore this once top-secret underground facility and learn about its history during one of America’s most tumultuous periods.

The Greenbrier hotel was originally designed to protect government officials from a nuclear war but served as an emergency shelter during times of peace too.