Denton Federal Regional Bunker, Texas

This federal underground bunker opened in 1964. At that time, the Office of Civil Defense and Mobility, FEMA’s precursor agency, was planning on building major underground civil defense complexes in all eight of its regions (at Olney MD, Harvard MA, Thomasville GA, Battle Creek MI, Denver CO, Santa Rosa CA, and Everett WA). Denton was the first, and some of the others did get built, but not at this scale. It has two levels, underground, with each around 25,000 square feet. Inside are communication facilities and, formerly, accommodations for up to five hundred people for 30 days. The office and reception center located above ground is still on site, and in use by the FEMA.