| The Greenbrier | |
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| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
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| Location: | White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia |
| Built/Founded: | 1858 |
| Architect: | Latrobe,John H. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. B. ; Et al. |
| Architectural style(s): | Classical Revival, Federal |
| Designated as NHL: | June 21, 1990[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | October 09, 1974[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 74002000 |
| Governing body: | Private |
The Greenbrier is a Mobil four star and AAA Five Diamond Award winning luxury resort located in the town of White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of Events 768 - Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned Kings of The Franks. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. The AAA Five Diamond Award is the highest level of the AAA Diamond Ratings System for restaurants and lodgings administered by AAA (formerly known as the American Automobile Association A luxury resort, sometimes referred to as an exclusive Resort, is a very expensive Vacation facility which is fully staffed and has been rated with five stars White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. Greenbrier County is a County located in the US state of West Virginia. For most of its history it was owned by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from many smaller railroads begun in the 19th century It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of CSX Corporation. Every U. S. president since Dwight Eisenhower has stayed at the resort's presidential suite although not neccesarily while in office. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general Presidential suite and royal suite are common names for the most expensive suite in a luxury hotel
The Greenbrier is also the site of a massive underground bunker that was meant to serve as an emergency shelter for the United States Congress during the Cold War. A military bunker is a hardened shelter often buried partly or fully underground designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the
Contents |
History
A spring of sulphur water is at the center of the resort property. A spring is a point where Groundwater flows out of the ground and is thus where the Aquifer surface meets the ground surface Sulfur water is a condition where the running water contains a high amount of Hydrogen sulfide gas that escapes into the air when the plumbing line is opened giving a distinct It issues forth below the green dome of the white-columned springhouse that has been the symbol of The Greenbrier for generations. A spring house, or springhouse is a small building used for Refrigeration once commonly found in rural areas before the advent of electric refrigeration Beginning in 1778, Mrs. Year 1778 ( MDCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Anderson, a local pioneer, came to follow the local Native American tradition of "taking the waters" to restore her chronic rheumatism and for the first 125 years the resort was known by the name White Sulphur Springs. Rheumatism or Rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the Heart, Bones Joints Kidney, Skin
The property soon fell into the hands of a prominent Baltimore family, the Calwells. Under the Calwells, the resort would begin to take shape. They sold cottages to prominent Southern individuals, many of which still stand today. Popular guests of the time included Martin van Buren and of course the famous Kentuckian, Henry Clay. Martin Van Buren (December 5 1782 July 24 1862 was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841 Henry Clay Sr ( April 12, 1777 &ndash June 29, 1852) was a nineteenth-century American statesman and Orator who
In 1858, a hotel was built on the property. Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging usually on a short-term basis This original hotel, the Grand Central Hotel, known by the moniker the "White" and later the "Old White", was torn down in 1922, several years after the addition of the current building. During the Civil War, the property changed hands between the Confederate Army and the Union Army, who almost burned the resort to the ground. A civil war is a War between a State and domestic political actors that are in control of some part of the territory claimed by the state
Following the Civil War, the resort reopened. It became a place for many Southerners and Northerners alike to vacation, and it became the setting for many famous post-war reconciliations, including the White Sulphur Manifesto which was the only political position issued by Robert E. Lee after the Civil War, that advocated the merging of the two societies. Robert Edward Lee (January 19 1807 &ndash October 12 1870 was a career United States Army officer, an Engineer, and among the most celebrated The resort went on to become the center of post-war society, especially after the arrival of the railroad.
In 1910, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway purchased the resort property, building additional amenities and the Greenbrier Hotel in 1913. Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common At this time the name officially changed to The Greenbrier as the neighboring town adopted the name White Sulphur Springs. During World War II, the Greenbrier served as an army hospital and as the relocation center for some of the Axis diplomats still within the United States. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A hospital is an institution for Health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment and often but not always providing for Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people commonly in large groups without trial The Axis powers also known as the Axis alliance Axis nations Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those Countries
After the war ended, C&O bought back the property from the government and reopened the resort. The hotel was redecorated by Dorothy Draper and its reopening was a social event of the season, bringing in such luminaries as the Duke of Windsor with his wife, Wallis Simpson, Bing Crosby, and The Kennedys. Dorothy Draper (born Dorothy Tuckerman November 22, 1889, died March 11, 1969) was an influential and innovative American Interior decorator The Peerage title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for The Prince Edward, formerly King of the United Kingdom Wallis Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer, then Simpson; 19 June 1895 or 1896 &ndash 24 April 1986 was an American Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby ( May 3, 1903 &ndash October 14, 1977) was an Academy Award winning American Popular In recent history, the resort has hosted several presidents and vice-presidents, foreign dignitaries such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Debby Reynolds, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, and the Iranian Hostage Crisis victims. Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू ʤəʋäɦəɾläl nɛɦɾu (14 November 1889 27 May 1964 was a major political leader of the Congress Party Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi ( Indirā Priyadarśinī Gāndhī) ( Née: Nehru (19 November 1917 - 31 October 1984 was the Prime Minister of the Deborah 'Debby' Reynolds CB served as the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO of the United Kingdom from March 2004 until she retired in November 2007 Rainier III Prince of Monaco (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi 31 May 1923 &ndash 6 April 2005) styled His Serene Highness Grace Patricia Kelly (later Grace Princess of Monaco; November 12 1929 &ndash September 14 1982 was an Academy Award -winning American film and The Iran hostage crisis ( Persian: تصرف سفارت آمریکا was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52
Secret emergency relocation center
In the late 1950s the U. S. government approached The Greenbrier for assistance in the creation of an emergency relocation center to house Congress in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses Nuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of nearly complete annhilation of human Civilization by Nuclear warfare. The classified, underground facility was built in conjunction with an above ground addition to the hotel, the West Virginia Wing, between 1959 and 1962. For thirty years the owners of The Greenbrier maintained an agreement with the federal government that, in the case of an international crisis, the entire resort property would be conveyed to government use, specifically as the emergency location of the legislative branch. The underground facility contained a dormitory, kitchen, hospital and even a broadcast center for members of Congress. The broadcast center had backdrops to make it appear members of Congress were actually broadcasting from Washington, D.C., by changing the backdrop for each season-- a 100-foot radio tower was installed some miles away for these broadcasts. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D The convention center, which was used by the Greenbrier guests for business meetings, was actually a disguised workstation area for members of Congress complete with hidden, 30-ton blast doors. The walls of the bunker were made of reinforced concrete designed to withstand a nuclear blast in Washington, D. C.
The center was maintained by workers who were purportedly hotel audio visual employees and operated under a dummy company named Forsythe Associates. A dummy corporation or dummy company is an entity created to serve as a front or cover for one or more legitimate companies Many of these same workers are employed by the hotel today and for a time gave guided tours. The complex is still maintained today by the Greenbrier and the facility remains much like it was in 1992 when the secret was revealed. While almost all of the furnishings were removed following the decommissioning of the bunker, furnishings close to what would have been in it at the time have been placed back in to approximate what the bunker looked like while it was still in operation. Two of the original bunks in the dormitories remain.
AT&T provided phone service for both The Greenbrier Hotel and the Bunker. Before proposing a merge request please see Talk and see if the merger you propose has recently been made and All calls placed from the bunker were routed through the hotel's switchboard to make it appear as if they originated from the hotel itself. The communications center in the bunker today contains representatives of three generations of telephone technology used.
Although the bunker was kept stocked with supplies for 30 years, it was never actually used as an emergency location, even during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba during the Cold War. The bunker's existence was not acknowledged until The Washington Post revealed it in a 1992 story; immediately after the Post story, the government decommissioned the bunker. The Washington Post is the largest and most circulated Newspaper in Washington D Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar)
The facility has since been renovated and is also used as a data storage facility for the private sector. In Economics, the private sector is that part of the economy which is both run for private Profit and is not controlled by the State. It is once again featured as an attraction in which visitors can tour the now declassified facilities.
This bit of trivia was the subject of a $1,000,000 question on the celebrity edition of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. In the United States, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (also known simply as Millionaire) is a Television Game show which Although comedian Norm Macdonald was somewhat sure that he knew that Greenbrier was the resort that served as an emergency relocation center, he decided to walk away with $500,000. Norman Gene Macdonald (born October 17, 1963) is a Canadian Comedian and Actor of Scottish heritage
Gambling
CSX has been lobbying the West Virginia Legislature for years to allow casino gambling at The Greenbrier, arguing that gaming would dramatically increase occupancy of the resort during the winter off-season. A casino is in the modern sense of the word a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of Gambling activities Under the plan, the bunker would be converted into a high-end casino, and only registered guests would be allowed to gamble there. The legislature has passed legislation that would allow gambling at the resort if approved by Greenbrier County voters. Greenbrier County is a County located in the US state of West Virginia. In 2000, the voters of the county turned down this option.
Golf
The resort also has a significant place in golf history. Golf legend Sam Snead was the resort's official pro for many years. Career In 1937 his first year on the Tour he won five events including the Oakland Open at Claremont Country Club in California Also, in 1979, The Greenbrier was the site of the first Ryder Cup contested under the current format of United States against Europe. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) The Ryder Cup is a Golf trophy donated by Samuel Ryder, which is awarded Biennially in an event called the "Ryder Cup Matches" between teams from The United States of America —commonly referred to as the More recently, The Greenbrier hosted the 1994 Solheim Cup, the women's equivalent to the Ryder Cup. The third Solheim Cup match took place from October 21 to October 23, 1994 at The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs West Virginia The Solheim Cup is a biennial Golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. This made The Greenbrier the first of only two locations to have hosted both the Ryder and Solheim Cups; it would be joined in 1998 by Muirfield Village near Columbus, Ohio. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Muirfield Village is an upscale golf-oriented community located in the Columbus suburb of Dublin Ohio. Columbus is the Capital and the largest city of the US state of Ohio.
Notes
- ^ The Greenbrier. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-10-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 54 - Nero ascends to the Roman throne 409 - Vandals and Alans crossed the Pyrenees
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor
References
The History of the Greenbrier: America's Resort by Robert Conte
See also
External links
- Official site
- Golf at the Greenbrier
- The Ultimate Congressional Hideaway 1992 article exposing the bunker
- Interview with Paul Fritz Bugas, former superintendent of the bunker
- Congressional Bunker Tour
- Virtual Tour at the Civil Defense Museum
- Greenbrier Bunker section of The Bureau of Atomic Tourism web site
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