Why Did the U.S. Build a Secret Bunker Under a Luxury Hotel?

Imagine attending a conference at a luxury hotel, unaware that the room you’re sitting in was built to host the U.S. House of Representatives during a nuclear emergency. During the Cold War, the U.S. government built a secret bunker beneath The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. This animated explainer shows why officials chose a hotel, how ordinary event spaces doubled as backup chambers for Congress, and how a crew posing as TV repair technicians kept the bunker ready for decades. Part of *After the Sirens*, an animated series about the science and human history of the nuclear age. **Sources** - [The Greenbrier’s official history](https://www.greenbrier.com/discover-more/about-us/history/) - [National Museum of Nuclear Science & History — Greenbrier Bunker](https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/history/greenbrier-bunker/) - [Ted Gup’s original Washington Post investigation](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/july/25/brier1.htm) #GreenbrierBunker #ColdWarHistory #AfterTheSirens