Hidden in Plain Sight

Hidden in Plain Sight The Greenbrier’s Bunker By Bob Conte 1818 WinterWinter 20102010 n the darkest days of the Cold special purposes. For seven months name — admitted nearly 25,000 War, federal officials pondered immediately after the attack on wounded soldiers, who recuper- the consequences of a devas- Pearl Harbor, the hotel was leased ated on the grounds and utilized tating attack upon Washing- by the U.S. State Department as an the sports facilities as part of the ton, D.C. In the nuclear era such an internment center for enemy alien hospital’s mission as a rehabilita- Iattack would destroy the leadership diplomats. German, Japanese, and tion center. [See “The West Virginia of the government and thereby Italian diplomatic personnel and WWII Home Front: Ashford General destroy the government’s ability their families were housed there Hospital: The Greenbrier Goes to to respond to the crisis. In the face while negotiations continued to War,” by Louis Keefer; Fall 1993.] of this danger, an Ten years after ambitious program the end of the war, was devised that when the govern- entailed the con- ment searched for struction of emer- a partner to serve as gency relocation the location for the centers — bunkers top-secret congres- — where govern- sional bunker, The ment leaders might Greenbrier offered reassemble in a an attractive op- secure location and tion because of this continue to func- successful earlier tion. Underground relationship. shelters were in- In addition, the stalled at Mount C h e s a p e a k e & Weather, Virginia; Ohio Railway line Raven Rock Moun- connected White tain, Pennsylvania; Sulphur Springs di- Cheyenne Moun- rectly to the center tain, Colorado; and of Washington, D.C. e l s e w h e re , e a c h Since the plan called with a separate for moving about purpose. 1,000 individuals The bunker at 240 miles, this rail- The Greenbrier re- ro a d c o n n e c t i o n sort in White Sul- was an important phur Springs was consideration. It intended for the also was benefi- emergency reloca- cial that this same tion of the U.S. Con- railroad, the C&O, gress. There were owned The Green- s e v e r a l re a s o n s brier, helping to why government coordinate trans- leaders turned to portation should The Greenbrier for the need arise. In This 25-ton blast door protects the vehicular entrance used to bring supplies into the assistance in this facility. This became the iconic photograph used in scores of newspapers and magazines the 1950’s there was project. For one, to depict the impressive steel-and-concrete construction of the bunker. Photograph by also a small airport a relationship al- Dan Dry. on the resort prop- ready existed be- erty located one tween the government and The exchange these foreign diplomats mile from the hotel, which offered Greenbrier, forged during World for American diplomats stranded the option of air travel, too. War II when the resort served two overseas. Once the diplomats de- The first official contact between parted, in July 1942, the U.S. Army the government and The Greenbrier The north entrance to The Greenbrier hotel purchased the entire resort property occurred in March 1956, shortly in White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County. and converted The Greenbrier into after President Eisenhower hosted One of the nation’s premier destination resorts, this imposing and stately hotel was an unlikely a 2,000-bed hospital. For the next a small but well-publicized confer- location for a top-secret congressional bomb four years, Ashford General Hos- ence at the resort. (The president’s shelter. Photograph by Tyler Evert. pital — the resort’s new wartime golf game with famed pro Sam Goldenseal 19 Early in the excavation phase of bunker construction, digging down into Copeland’s Hill behind The Greenbrier hotel in January 1959. Snead generated consider- able copy.) Congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, arranged a meeting between C&O officials and the Architect of the Capi- tol. From the outset the bunker project at The Greenbrier was super- vised by the Architect of the Capitol, the official in charge of maintaining all buildings in Washington utilized by Congress. This organizational arrange- ment remained in place for the next 39 years, until the Below: Looking across the top of the nearly completed bunker on October 31, 1960. The large pipe in the foreground was part of the exhaust system to extract smoke from diesel generators inside the bunker’s power plant. The Greenbrier is visible at left. 20 Winter 2010 Read More about It The Greenbrier at White Sulphur Springs, West “Old White,” as it is known informally, was back in Virginia’s premier resort, has a story to tell. That business hosting the well-heeled and elite traveler. tale is given five-star treatment in a book titled, Hard times in the early 21 st century forced a sale The History of The Greenbrier: to new owner Jim Justice, who America’s Resort. Author Bob has recently added a casino and Conte, staff historian at The other attractions. Greenbrier since 1978, knows he Perhaps the most important has one of the choicest jobs in section of the book from a the world, and his enthusiasm historical standpoint is the ex- for his subject is evident in this tensive chapter about “Project attractive 224-page hardbound Greek Island” — the bunker. volume. Originally published in Detailed and insightful, this 1998, the book is now in its sixth is without a doubt the most printing and includes revised authoritative account of the and updated material. inception, construction, main- Conte takes the story of the tenance, and decommissioning famous inn from its roots as a of the bunker available to date. wilderness spring to its devel- The book includes riveting opment as a spa in the pioneer photographs, showing many of and colonial periods, through the luminaries who have visited the opulent 1830’s to the Civil there over the years as well as War, when it was used as a Con- advertisements, programs, and federate hospital and a Union memorabilia. Conte’s text is outpost. Rebuilt following the war, it soon regained clear and engaging, and the layout and presentation its stature as a gathering spot for the wealthy and are exquisite, befitting the book’s elegant subject. famous. The “golden age” of the grand resort came The History of The Greenbrier sells for $29.95, plus with the railroad, and the inn flourished until shipping and in-state sales tax, from West Virginia World War II, when it was converted to military Book Company; on-line at www.wvbookco.com or uses. Following that war, guests returned, and phone 1-888-982-1848. official termination of the project buildings at one time, so that the A parade of trucks hauled 4,000 in 1995. construction of the above-ground loads of concrete, delivering an Construction began on a cold, West Virginia Wing became a plau- estimated 50,000 tons to the site. wintry day in December 1958. As sible explanation for all the activity Once completed, the bunker was soon as equipment began clearing going on only a few hundred yards covered with steel plating and a hill directly behind the existing from the hotel. The underground buried under 20 feet of earth. The hotel, an announcement to the bunker and the new hotel facilities final cost of both the bunker and press explained that the resort was were built simultaneously; thus the the West Virginia Wing was set at embarking on an expansion project overt building disguised the covert just over $14 million. to add a new addition called the building. One was literally stacked The construction phase of the West Virginia Wing. In fact the new on top of the other. This technique project ended in early 1962, when wing was a cover story to hide the came to be called “hiding it in plain the first guests checked into the new construction of the underground sight.” hotel rooms in the West Virginia bunker. For months officials had Building the bunker was a mas- Wing. That wing also included a struggled with a difficult problem. sive undertaking. Its concrete walls large area for The Greenbrier Clinic, The proposed bunker was to be as stand two feet thick and are rein- which had grown significantly since large as a football field — it would forced with steel. Four blast doors its start in 1948 as a diagnostic medi- eventually measure out to 112,000 were specially made by the Mosler cal facility. Most of one floor of the square feet — and the extensive Safe Company. The largest of these building was (and still is) devoted excavation and construction would measures 15 feet high, more than to thorough medical examinations generate many questions amongst 12 feet wide, and 19½ inches thick, by a team of physicians and a staff resort guests and local people. The weighing in excess of 28 tons. Its that does laboratory work as part ingenious solution was to build two hinges alone weigh 1½ tons each. of that diagnostic process. The Goldenseal 21 West Virginia Wing also included new conference facilities at a time when the resort was pursuing the lucrative area of group business. The new wing was clearly an attempt by The Greenbrier to stay competitive with other resorts, which only made for a more effective cover story. Certainly this whole process generated rumors that there was more to the story of the big construction project on the hill than met the eye.

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