The Greenbrier Resort Bunker (Bunker Tour)

The Greenbrier Resort Bunker, officially designated Project Greek Island by the United States government, is a classified Cold War–era underground facility built between 1958 and 1961 beneath the West Wing addition of The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Commissioned during the Eisenhower administration at the height of Cold War nuclear anxiety, the bunker was engineered to shelter all 535 members of the U.S. Congress—both the House of Representatives and the Senate—along with essential support staff, in the event of a nuclear attack on Washington, D.C. The facility spans approximately 112,000 square feet carved into the Allegheny Mountains and remained operational in strict secrecy for more than 30 years. Its layout mirrors the functional needs of a displaced legislative branch: 18 dormitory rooms capable of housing the full congressional membership, dedicated chambers for the House and Senate built to approximate the dimensions of the actual Capitol chambers, a 470-person capacity cafeteria, a decontamination chamber at the entry tunnel, a television and radio broadcast studio for emergency government communications, fully equipped medical facilities, a diesel power plant, and provisions sufficient for 60 days of self-sustained occupancy. A small, secretive maintenance crew operated the facility under the cover name Forsythe Associates, ostensibly a television repair company. The bunker's existence remained classified until May 1992, when Washington Post journalist Ted Gup published a detailed investigative exposé. The disclosure rendered the facility strategically obsolete; within weeks, the U.S. government decommissioned Project Greek Island and transferred control to The Greenbrier. Public guided tours opened in 1995 and continue today, making the bunker one of the most remarkable Cold War heritage sites in the eastern United States. Tours depart from the resort lobby, require advance booking of at least 48 hours, and run approximately 90 minutes. Visitors walk through the decontamination tunnel, the blast door, dormitory areas, the replica congressional chambers, the broadcast studio, and the power plant.