5. Cold War Bunkers
During the height of nuclear fears in the 1950s and 1960s, major cities from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles built subterranean fallout shelters beneath public buildings. New York’s Rockefeller Plaza housed chambers with sealed blast doors and air-filtration systems. Chicago constructed concrete vaults under City Hall, stocked with cots for officials.
Seattle’s school bunkers remain hidden under classrooms. These secret vaults, complete with emergency rations and first-aid supplies, stand as eerie reminders of atomic-age anxiety. Learn more from Smithsonian Magazine.
