The Greenbrier

A luxury resort that's been welcoming guests since 1778. Underneath it sits a massive Cold War bunker built in secret to shelter the entire US Congress in the event of nuclear war — hidden until the Washington Post revealed it in 1992.

The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, is a 245-year-old luxury resort that has hosted twenty-six presidents, concealed a secret nuclear bunker for Congress, served as a Civil War hospital and a World War II military facility, and accumulated enough ghosts to fill its 710 rooms several times over. Its history begins in 1778, when a local woman discovered that the sulfur spring water on the property alleviated her rheumatism. By the 1830s, the reputation of the healing waters had attracted politicians, judges, and wealthy southern planters. Five U.S. presidents visited between 1830 and the early 1860s. Joseph and Rose Kennedy honeymooned here in 1914. The first central building, known as Old White, was completed in 1858.

During the Civil War, the resort closed to guests and served both the Confederacy as a military hospital and the Union as a strategic headquarters. Soldiers nursed their wounds in rooms that had hosted society balls and political gatherings. During World War II, the resort was requisitioned by the U.S. government as a detention facility for Axis diplomats before being converted to Ashford General Hospital, through which over 24,000 soldiers passed between 1942 and 1946. Late-night visitors report the phantom clicking of crutches on the corridor floors -- the residual echoes of wounded soldiers navigating hallways that still bear their memory.

The most extraordinary chapter in The Greenbrier's history is Project Greek Island, the secret underground bunker constructed beneath the resort during the late 1950s at President Eisenhower's request. The 112,544-square-foot facility was designed to house the entire United States Congress in the event of nuclear war, complete with dormitories, meeting chambers, a broadcast studio, medical facilities, and enough supplies to sustain operations for months. The bunker was maintained in a state of constant readiness from 1961 until 1992, when Washington Post reporter Ted Gup revealed its existence. The government decommissioned the facility, and The Greenbrier opened it to public tours. Security guards now report strange echoes of political debates in the empty chambers.

The resort's paranormal activity spans the entire property. The Virginia Room stands out as a particular hotspot, where guests have captured what appears to be a ghostly face hovering above the fireplace using both digital and disposable cameras. Visitors experience an inexplicable rush of energy near the fireplace, accompanied by pockets of icy air in areas with no air conditioning or fans. A Lady in Black has been observed gliding along hallways, and doors swing open and slam shut without human assistance.

The golf course may be the most actively haunted area on the property. Players report dark figures darting between trees, voices from the trees offering unsolicited putting advice, and an oppressive sense of being watched across the manicured fairways. In 2015, Arizona Cardinals players staying at The Greenbrier during training camp reported strange noises and voices from nowhere in their rooms. Safety Tony Jefferson described hearing a little girl's voice when he was alone in his room the first night: The lights have not been off since, he told reporters. During a 2018 corporate retreat, journalist Matt Hopkins documented mysterious door knocks, chairs moving independently, sensations of being groped by unseen hands, dark figures appearing and vanishing, and room televisions turning on and off by themselves.

The Greenbrier continues to operate as one of America's premier luxury resorts, its public bunker tours drawing visitors who come for Cold War history and leave with ghost stories they never expected.