Buried more than 700 feet beneath the sprawling and luxurious resort in the hills of West Virginia is a massive bunker, designed to hold and protect every member of Congress in the event of nuclear Armageddon.
The underground stronghold is located on the grounds of an 11,000-acre estate, Greenbrier, in the remote Allegheny Mountains, and contains all the facilities necessary for federal lawmakers to continue to perform their duties—all from behind 25-ton blast doors.
Built at the height of the Cold War, when fears of a nuclear holocaust reached a fever pitch, the bunker’s existence was common knowledge to its residents, many of whom worked at Greenbrier in other capacities, even if they held government secrets.
Buried more than 700 feet beneath a sprawling and luxurious resort in the mountains of West Virginia is a massive bunker designed to hold and protect every member of Congress in the event of a nuclear war (The Greenbrier).
The underground fortress is located on an 11,000-acre estate in Greenbrier, in the distant Allegheny Mountains (Getty Images)
Its existence was officially revealed in 1992 in an exposé written by journalist Ted Gupp. The Washington Post, Ending more than five decades of mystery and speculation.
Today, the dystopian facility has been the subject of several books and documentaries, and is also open to the public for tours.
Bunker construction
Greenbrier, five hours southwest of Washington, DC, was used by the federal government as an internment facility for Japanese, Italian and German diplomats during the latter years of World War II.
In 1942, the entire resort was purchased by the US Army, and converted into a 2,200-bed military hospital.
Construction on the bunker — code-named Project Greek Island — began in 1959, a year after it was authorized by Congress, when fears of a Soviet nuclear attack were at the forefront of the minds of both politicians and ordinary citizens (The Greenbrier).
In 1949, ten years before ground was broken on the bunker, Defense Secretary Louis Johnson met at the Greenbrier with the joint chiefs of staff and the secretaries of the Army, Air Force and Navy for what the resort’s history called “a top-secret discussion of postwar military strategy,” according to a Goop article.
Construction on the bunker — code-named Project Greek Island — began in 1959, a year after it was authorized by Congress, when the fear of a Soviet nuclear attack was at the forefront of the minds of both politicians and ordinary citizens.
In 1961, the installation of a blast door on the west portal of the Greenbrier Bunker. The project ended in 1962, as the Cuban Missile Crisis (The Greenbrier).
After two and a half years and nearly 50,000 tons of concrete, the project was completed—as John F. Kennedy Jr. and Nikita Khrushchev faced the Cuban Missile Crisis and the country sought to build its own backyard bomb shelters.
A nation underground
According to Goop, the bunker was “custom-designed to meet the needs of Congress-in-hiding, with one chamber for the Senate, one chamber for the House and a large hall for joint sessions.”
Two separate auditoriums, with green corduroy-covered chairs and a red carpet leading to the dais, were designed to hold congressional sessions (Getty Images)
Two separate auditoriums, with green corduroy-covered chairs and a red carpet leading to the dais, were designed to hold congressional sessions. The larger of the two has a capacity of about 470, enough to seat a 435-member House of Representatives. The small auditorium seats around 130, large enough to serve as a temporary Senate chamber. A separate exhibition hall was for use during joint sessions of Congress.
Elsewhere, stands a television studio, which legislators would use to address the rest of the country, if nuclear weapons were to touch American soil. There is a radio and communication room as well as special soundproof phone booths, equipped with cryptographic machines.
The bunker also housed a television studio, which legislators used to address what was left of the country, should nuclear weapons touch American soil. There is also a radio and communications room as well as special soundproof phone booths, cryptographic machines (Getty Images)
As well as working facilities, MPs who are taken to the bunker need somewhere to live – potentially for long distances. The underground hideout has over 1,000 bunk beds (The Greenbear)
As well as working facilities, MPs who are taken to the bunker need somewhere to live – potentially for long distances.
The underground hideout has more than 1,000 bunk beds, a 400-seat cafeteria, a full kitchen and several offices. Workers reported seeing more than 100 urinals being transported to the construction site, which included showers, storage rooms and large water tanks.
There was also a large trash incinerator that could morbidly serve as a crematorium.
“Once the blast doors are closed, no one can enter or exit until the crisis is over,” Goop noted.
An infirmary was also installed as well as a large trash incinerator that could serve as a crematorium (Getty Images)
the doors
Standing in the way of the members of Congress and the nuclear vaporizer are four giant doors, each weighing 18 to 30 tons.
The blast doors were manufactured by the Mosler Safe Company, an Ohio-based manufacturer known for its vaults and safes, which the government contracted during the period to build multiple relocation centers and bunkers.
According to Gup’s report, two of the four gates – identified as “GH 1” and “GH 3” – were large enough to drive vehicles through. GH 1 measures 12 feet 3 inches wide and 15 feet tall and weighs more than 28 tons. GH 3, which weighed more than 20 tons. Both doors were 19.5 inches thick and hung with two hinges that themselves weighed 1.5 tons, according to Mosler order reports.
The bunker had a 7ft wide by 8ft high ‘personnel door’ and another hatch-like door that was 3ft by 3.5ft (Getty Images).
Two other doors were much smaller, one, a hatch-like door, measuring 3 feet by 3.5 feet, and a “staff door” that was 7 feet wide by 8 feet high.
After successfully testing vault doors at the government’s Nevada Test Site in 1957, Mosler claimed that his doors could survive the effects of an atomic bomb.
The doors were moved from Mosler’s plant in Hamilton, Ohio, to West Virginia by rail, although they were so large that they could not be placed on a normal freight car. They had to be transported either standing, leaning at an angle, or in special cars low enough to avoid tunnels or other obstacles in the way.
Other doors, large enough to drive vehicles through, weighed 18 to 30 tons. Their creator, Mosler, had conducted successful tests on vault doors at the government’s Nevada test site in 1957, claiming the doors could survive the effects of an atomic bomb (AFP via Getty Images).
A sad revelation
“The Greenbrier was different in that it relied more on an element of secrecy to protect it from incoming bombs than on any rocky mountain,” Goop wrote in his article, published in June. of the post Magazine on May 31, 1992.
“Despite the discretion of the resort staff, however, the existence of some sort of covert government installation was widely known.”
Because of this, the piece angered not only government officials but locals, who considered it a “point of pride” that the rest of the country didn’t know about, according to Trish Parker, a lifelong Greenbrier resident.
“When somebody who they thought was an outsider came in and exposed it, they were very deceived,” Parker said. Smithsonian Magazine.
Although they knew of the bunker’s existence, many were shocked to learn its true purpose and that it was large enough to hold 1,100 of the country’s most important and high-profile people.
Goop’s revelations also revealed that of all the Greenbrier employees, it was a seven-man strong team at “Forsyth Associates” — apparently in charge of repairing the resort’s electrical equipment — that oversaw the repair of the vault.
One of the three exterior entrances to the former government transfer facility, also known as “the bunker,” is seen during a media tour at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia on July 14, 2006 (Getty Images)
In a statement issued at the time, Congress leaders expressed “regret” at Ma of the post The decision to publish secret pieces.
“It was always clear that if the facility’s location were compromised, the effectiveness and security of the program would be jeopardized, if not terminated,” the statement said.
Tours and pricing
The Greenbrier Bunker was declassified shortly after its existence became public, and the vault has featured in numerous articles and documentaries. Tours have run both regularly and privately since 1995.
Nowadays, the regular admission price for adults is $52 per person, while youth admission (10 to 17) is $24.
For private tours, which can accommodate up to 25 guests, prices vary by time. Before 5 pm. A large private tour costs $1,205.20, rising to $1,766 before 6.30pm and $1,815 before 8pm.
Bunker tours depart from the Trellis lobby near the lobby bar, guests are advised to allow ample time for parking, arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled time and wear comfortable shoes.
According to the official website, the bunker will be closed to the public from March 9 to 12, 2026.
