Greenbrier Bunker

Useful Information

Location:	101 W Main St, White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986. Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs. Trellis Lobby near the Lobby Bar. (37.7864435, -80.3073237)
Open:	All year daily see online booking. Reservations are required. Be at Trellis Lobby 15 minutes before the tour. [2024]
Fee:	Adults USD 47, Children (10-18) USD 24. [2024]
Classification:	Secret Bunker
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=90 min, MinAge=10, Max=25. V=33,000/a [2007]
Photography:	No cameras, electronic equipment or cell phone
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:	Ted Gup (1992): The Ultimate Congressional Hideaway, The Washington Post, Sunday, May 31, 1992; Page W11. online
Address:	The Greenbrier, 101 W. Main Street, White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986, Tel: +1-855-453-4858. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

12-DEC-1958	an article in a West Virginia newspaper stated: "Chesapeake and Ohio Railway announced plans today for the construction of an Exhibit Hall adjacent to the auditorium of the Greenbrier hotel. The cost of the project was not disclosed."
1959	construction started.
1962	construction completed.
1992	Washington Post revealed the existence of the bunker.
1995	first tours of the bunker exclusively for Greenbrier guests.
1997	opened to the public.

Description

The Greenbrier is a luxurious Southern resort, located about 400 km south of Washington DC in the mountains of West Virginia. This nice spot has a secret, which was not known to the thousands of visitors of this place. During the Cold War the United States government maintained a top-secret underground bunker here. It was intended to house the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate in case of nuclear war.

During the Eisenhower-era, at the height of the Cold War, this facility was built with the code name Project Greek Island. The Greenbrier happened to be extending its guest facilities and was constructing the West Virginia wing for their diagnostic clinic. The bunker was built directly underneath this wing at the same time, which covered the secrecy. A problem was to explain the amount of concrete that was being poured. To do this, it was openly acknowledged that the Greenbrier was expanding their conference service facilities and an exhibit hall, which was designated as a fallout shelter. At this time it seemed normal to build a private nuclear bunker. In other words, the camouflaged a real bunker with a fake bunker.

The 12 to 15 government employees responsible for the maintenance and operation of the bunker, worked down here under the cover of Forsythe Associates. This was a dummy company, faking a TV repair business, based in Arlington, Virginia. They actually maintained the hotel’s 1100 televisions. But they spent only about 20 % of their time working for the hotel and about 80 % in maintaining the bunker. After the bunker was abandoned, some of them were employed by the hotel and gave guided tours. The bunker is now maintained by The Greenbrier, and kept in a state as it was in 1992. Almost all the furnishings were removed during the decommissioning of the bunker. But like a museum, some similar furnishings and two of the original bunks in the dormitories remain.

The bunker is entered through a blast door which weighs 25 tons. The first thing after the door is the decontamination area. Inside there are House and Senate chambers, dorms, power plant, clinic, and cafeteria. That sounds not like a lot, but the bunker had 18 dormitories that could accommodate more than 1,100 people. The diesel generator power plant had three 53 m³ diesel fuel tanks, which provided electricity for the purification equipment. The bunker also had three 95 m³ water tanks. The clinic had 12 hospital beds, medical and dental operating rooms, laboratory, pharmacy, and intensive care unit. Of course there were a huge cafeteria and series of meeting rooms. There was a broadcast center for the members of Congress, which had changeable seasonal backdrops to allow it to appear as if members of Congress were broadcasting from Washington, D.C. The 30 m high radio tower which was required for broadcasts was installed 7.2 km away, so it could not reveal the location of the bunker.

The largest room is named the Exhibit Hall or Exhibition Hall, and is 27 m by 57 m, with a 6 m high ceiling supported by 18 pillars. It was intended for joint sessions of Congress. The second-largest room seating 470 people was large enough to host the 435-member House of Representatives. Another room seating 130 was intended as a temporary Senate chamber. Those huge chambers were actually not closed, they were incorporated into the public spaces of the hotel. The bunker entrance door was covered by fake walls with fancy wallpaper. The Exhibition Hall in the West Virginia Wing differed from other public spaces in the hotel though, due to large concrete columns.

The bunker is a typical Cold War Secret Bunker, with completely autonomous air, electricity, water, and sewage system. It’s completely encased by reinforced concrete, and is buried below ground. The bunker is able to withstand an indirect(!) nuclear attack. Food, clothing, medical care, and outside communications were kept at the ready. It had enough supplies for six months, afterwards the inhabitants had to return to the surface.

The bunker was still operational in 1992, three years after the end of the Cold War, when reporter Ted Gup from the Washington Post revealed its existence. As a result the bunker was immediately decommissioned, a process which took three years. From 1995 the Greenbrier offered bunker tours exclusively for its guests. But after two years, in 1997, they opened the tours for anyone. Nevertheless, they are quite restrictive, no pictures, reservation mandatory, and no refund for cancellations in the last 24 hours. Be sure to be at the right place at least 15 minutes before the start.