The Secret City Hidden Under a Famous American Hotel
Behind what appeared to be an ordinary luxury resort in West Virginia, investigators uncovered something almost unimaginable: a massive, hidden bunker sealed behind a 25-ton steel door, built to protect the entire U.S. Congress from nuclear destruction. Buried beneath The Greenbrier resort was a fully functional underground city, known by its secret codename, Project Greek Island.
Constructed between 1957 and 1962 at the height of Cold War paranoia, the facility was designed to remain invisible. What guests believed to be routine hotel expansions were actually cover for one of the most ambitious continuity-of-government projects ever attempted. Beneath their feet lay a self-sustaining complex with its own power generation, water purification systems, medical facilities, dormitories, a cafeteria, and an advanced communications hub capable of running the nation.
For three decades, the secret held. Hotel staff worked nearby, visitors slept overhead, and no one suspected that enormous blast doors and emergency corridors were hidden just steps away. The bunker was engineered to house all 535 members of Congress along with key staff, ensuring that the legislative branch could continue operating even after a nuclear strike on Washington, D.C.
The truth finally emerged in 1992, when a newspaper investigation revealed the existence of the underground refuge. Once exposed, the government was forced to shut the facility down, as secrecy was the cornerstone of its effectiveness.
Today, what was once one of America’s most closely guarded Cold War secrets has been transformed into a public site. Visitors can now walk through the halls of the bunker, discovering firsthand the scale of the fear, secrecy, and extraordinary preparation that defined an era when nuclear war felt dangerously close.
