Inside the bunker that was a secret for five decades and designed to hold all of Congress after a nuclear strike

Inside the bunker that was a secret for five decades and designed to hold all of Congress after a nuclear strike – that you can visit today

Inside the bunker that was a secret for five decades and designed to hold all of Congress after a nuclear strike – that you can visit today

Mike Bedigan

Sat, December 27, 2025 at 12:24 PM UTC

9 min read

Inside the bunker that was a secret for five decades and designed to hold all of Congress after a nuclear strike – that you can visit today

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Buried over 700 feet beneath a sprawling and luxurious resort in the hills of West Virginia lies a vast bunker, designed to hold and protect every single member of Congress in the event of nuclear armageddon.

The underground stronghold lies on the grounds of the 11,000-acre property at the Greenbrier, in the remote Allegheny Mountains, and contains all the necessary facilities for federal lawmakers to continue to carry out their duties should the worst happen – all from behind 25-ton blast doors.

Built during the height of the Cold War, when fears of nuclear catastrophe reached fever pitch, the bunker’s existence was common knowledge to residents, many of whom worked at the Greenbrier in other capacities, despite being a tightly kept government secret.

Buried over 700 feet beneath a sprawling and luxurious resort in the hills of West Virginia lies a vast bunker, designed to hold and protect every single member of Congress in the event of a nuclear war (The Greenbrier)

The underground stronghold lies under the grounds of the 11,000 acre property at Greenbrier, in the remote Allegheny Mountains (Getty Images)

Its existence was officially revealed to the world in 1992 in an exposé written by journalist Ted Gup and published in the Washington Post, ending more than five decades of mystery and speculation.

Today, the dystopian facility has been the subject of multiple books and documentaries, and is even open to the public for tours.

Building the Bunker

The Greenbrier, located around five hours' drive south-west of Washington D.C., was used by the federal government during the later years of the Second World War as an internment facility for Japanese, Italian and German diplomats.

In 1942, the entire resort was purchased by the U.S. Army, and it was converted into a 2,200-bed military hospital.

In 1949, ten years before ground was broken on the bunker, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson met at the Greenbrier with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretaries of the Army, Air Force and Navy for what a history of the resort called a "top-secret discussion of postwar military strategy,” according to Gup’s article.

Construction on the bunker – code-named Project Greek Island – began in 1959, a year after being authorized by Congress, when fear of a Soviet nuclear attack was at the forefront of the minds of both politicians and ordinary citizens.

Installation of the blast door at the west portal of the Greenbrier bunker in 1961. The project was finished in 1962, the same year as The Cuban Missile Crisis (The Greenbrier)

Two-and-a-half years and around 50,000 tonnes of concrete later, the project was completed – as John F Kennedy Jr and Nikita Khrushchev squared off over the Cuban Missile Crisis and the country scrambled to build its own backyard bomb shelters.

One Nation Underground

According to Gup, the bunker was “custom-designed to meet the needs of a Congress-in-hiding, complete with a chamber for the Senate, a chamber for the House and a massive hall for joint sessions.”

Two separate auditoriums, fitted with green corduroy-covered chairs and a red carpet leading to the stage, were designed to hold congressional sessions. The larger of the two has a capacity of around 470, enough to accommodate the 435-member House of Representatives. The smaller auditorium holds around 130, enough to serve as a temporary Senate chamber. A separate Exhibit Hall was meant for use in joint sessions of Congress.

Elsewhere, a television studio stands, which legislators would have used to address what remained of the country, should nuclear warheads have touched down on U.S. soil. There is also a radio and communications room as well as specially soundproofed phone booths, fitted with cryptographic machines.

The bunker also contained a television studio, which legislators would have used to address what remained of the country, should nuclear warheads have touched down on U.S. soil. There is also a radio and communications room as well as specially soundproofed phone booths, fitted with cryptographic machines (Getty Images)

As well as working facilities, lawmakers who would have been rushed to the bunker needed somewhere to stay – potentially for the long haul.

The subterranean hideout boasts more than 1,000 bunk beds, a 400-seat cafeteria, a full kitchen, and numerous offices. Workers reported seeing over 100 urinals being transported into the construction site, which also held showers, storage rooms and enormous water tanks.

There was also a huge trash incinerator that could serve, morbidly, as a crematorium.

“Once the blast doors were sealed, no one could enter or leave until the crisis had passed,” Gup noted.

An infirmary was also set up as well as a huge trash incinerator that could serve as a crematorium (Getty Images)

The Doors

Standing in the way of congressional members and nuclear evaporation are four enormous doors, each weighing between 18 and 30 tonnes.

The blast doors were built by Mosler Safe Co., an Ohio-based manufacturer renowned for its vaults and safes, which was contracted by the government during the period to build multiple relocation centers and bunkers.

Two of the four doors – known as “GH 1” and “GH 3” – were big enough to drive vehicles through, according to Gup’s report. GH 1 measured 12 feet 3 inches wide and 15 feet high and weighed 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 weighed 1.5 tons by themselves, according to Mosler order reports.

The bunker contained a ‘personnel door’ which was 7 feet wide by 8 feet high, and another hatch-like door which was 3 feet by 3.5 feet (Getty Images)

The two other doors were much smaller, with one, a hatch-like door, measuring 3 feet by 3.5 feet, and a "personnel door" which was 7 feet wide by 8 feet high.

Mosler claimed its doors could survive the impact of an atomic bomb blast, having conducted successful tests on a vault door at the government's Nevada Test Site in 1957.

The doors were moved from Mosler’s plant in Hamilton, Ohio, to West Virginia by train, though they were so big that they could not be laid in an ordinary freight car. They had to be transported either standing, tilted at an angle or in a special car that was low enough for them not to collide with tunnels or other obstacles along the way.

The other doors, large enough to drive vehicles through, weighed between 18 and 30 tonnes. Their maker, Mosler, claimed the doors could survive the impact of an atomic bomb blast, having conducted successful tests on a vault door at the government's Nevada Test Site in 1957 (AFP via Getty Images)

A Regrettable Revelation

“The Greenbrier was different in that it relied more on the element of secrecy than on any mountain of rock to shield it from incoming bombs,” Gup wrote in his article, which was published in The Post’s magazine on May 31, 1992.

“Yet despite the discretion of the resort staff, the existence of some kind of hidden government installation there was widely known.”

It was perhaps for this reason that the piece angered not just government officials, but the locals themselves, who considered it a “point of pride” to have a secret that the rest of the country did not know about, according to lifelong Greenbrier resident Trish Parker.

“When someone who they considered an outsider came in and revealed it, they felt very betrayed,” Parker told Smithsonian Magazine.

Even though they knew of the bunker’s existence, many were still surprised to learn of its real purpose and that it was large enough to hold 1,100 of the country’s most important and high-profile people.

Gup’s exposé also revealed that of all the employees at Greenbrier, it was the seven-man strong team at “Forsythe Associates” – ostensibly in charge of repairing the resort’s electrical equipment – that oversaw the upkeep of the vault.

One of the three outside entrances of a former government relocation facility, also know as "the bunker," is seen during a media tour at Greenbrier Resort July 14, 2006 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (Getty Images)

In a statement released at the time, Congressional leaders expressed “regret” at The Post’s decision to publish Gup’s pieces.

“It was always clear that if the secret of the facility’s location were to be compromised, the effectiveness and security of the program would be jeopardized, if not terminated,” the statement read.

Tours and Pricing

The Greenbrier bunker was declassified shortly after its existence was made public, and the vault has featured in a number of articles and documentaries. Tours have run since 1995, both regular and private.

Nowadays, regular admission prices for adults are $52 per person, while youth admission (from ages 10 to 17) is $24.

For private tours, which can accommodate up to 25 guests, prices vary depending on time. Before 5:00 p.m.. a large private tour costs $1,205.20, increasing to $1,766 before 6.30 p.m. and going up to $1,815 before 8 p.m.

Bunker tours depart from the Trellis Lobby near the lobby bar, with guests advised to allow ample time for parking, arrive 15 minutes before their allotted time, and wear comfortable shoes.

The bunker will be closed to the public from March 9 to 12, 2026, according to the official website.

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