Houston Fallout Shelters

[gazpacho70]

I found an old book at the Downtown public library on old Houston fallout shelters, "The Community Shelter Plan." I have been out looking around town to see if any of the buildings where the shelters were still exist. Some are gone, but i have been to many of the building that do still exist, I hve not got to the shelter part of the buildings yet. If anyone else has heard about these old shelters or has been into any of them please let me know.

[Houstonian in Iraq]

I found an old book at the Downtown public library on old Houston fallout shelters, "The Community Shelter Plan." I have been out looking around town to see if any of the buildings where the shelters were still exist.  Some are gone, but i have been to many of the building that do still exist, I hve not got to the shelter part of the buildings yet. If anyone else has heard about these old shelters or has been into any of them please let me know.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I remember as a kid......about 15 years ago the Woolworths downtown on Main street had a sign with a "radiation" emblem on it that said something like "Fallout shelter in basement". Woolworths has long been removed so I never got a chance to check it out. Is it in your book? How about that box Federal courthouse ......I remember taking a tour in school that mentioned something about that building made to survive a nuclear attack. Don't remember much that was back in '89

[MidtownCoog]

Fu Kim on San Jacinto was/is one. I think it was a bank in its former life.

The Main Post Office is also one. Until recently, they had old Civil Defence supplies down there, too.

[gazpacho70]

the woolworths one is in there

I remember as a kid......about 15 years ago the Woolworths downtown on Main street had a sign with a "radiation" emblem on it  that said something like "Fallout shelter in basement".  Woolworths has long been removed so I never got a chance to check it out.  Is it in your book?  How about that box Federal courthouse ......I remember taking a tour in school that mentioned something about that building made to survive a nuclear attack. Don't remember much that was back in '89

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Subdude]

Isn't there one in the Astrodome?

[MidtownCoog]

Aksi Ezekeil Cullen at UH, I think.

[YakuzaIce]

Has anyone on here built a shelter themselves or considered building one? I actually have considered building one just because I like to do construction projects like that. I remember I once saw a documentary on fallout shelters and they showed the largest private one, it was huge! And he built it all by himself. The problem I see of having one is what if your neighbors know about it and you only have enough supplies for your family? And a disaster is imminent

[MidtownCoog]

What about the one out near Tomball?

Didn't some rich mystery dude built one?

I think it's a data center now.

[GREASER]

Has anyone on here built a shelter themselves or considered building one?  I actually have considered building one just because I like to do construction projects like that.  I remember I once saw a documentary on fallout shelters and they showed the largest private one, it was huge!  And he built it all by himself.  The problem I see of having one is what if your neighbors know about it and you only have enough supplies for your family?  And a disaster is imminent

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This scenario was a Twilight Zone Episode.

[RedScare]

Has anyone on here built a shelter themselves or considered building one?  I actually have considered building one just because I like to do construction projects like that.  I remember I once saw a documentary on fallout shelters and they showed the largest private one, it was huge!  And he built it all by himself.  The problem I see of having one is what if your neighbors know about it and you only have enough supplies for your family?  And a disaster is imminent

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I saw that documentary. I think you entered it from several different places and he had false passages built in as well. He just kept adding on to it. It was freaky.

[YakuzaIce]

I saw that documentary.  I think you entered it from several different places and he had false passages built in as well.  He just kept adding on to it.  It was freaky.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah wasn't one in the bathroom, and another in the garage with a huge concrete plug on it. They were really scared of their neighbors wanting in.

[RedScare]

Yeah, that was it. I thought the neighbors was the reason, but I wasn't sure.

What a paranoid freak, though.

[RedScare]

I grew up in North Carolina, and we had these things everywhere. With the hilly terrain of Western NC, there were some pretty neat designs, and many of them were accessible from the street, even though they went underground.

Needless to say, they were lots of fun to explore, but the survival wafers tasted tasted like total caca. The candy wasn't bad, though.

[neuman]

The basement of McCrory's at Main and Prairie, where the Mercury Room is today, was one. The fallout sign was still on the building until it was renovated.

[TJones]

Who needs a fall-out shelter anyway ? I still use the ol' "duck and cover" method. I have seen footage that you can actually use a picnic blanket to hide under, and TAH-DAH, it is a super shield !

[djrage]

Isn't there one in the Astrodome?

Yeah, didn't Brewster McCloud live in it?

Was that really a shelter in the Astrodome or was that just a set they used in the movie?

[Crash]

Well on the HAIF site (outside of the discussion forums)

http://houstonarchitecture.info/ShowBuilding.php?ID=90

it says that underneath the downtown Foley's there's a fairly substantial shelter.

In the 1960's, the city built a massive nuclear fallout shelter in case of attack by the Soviet Union. The cavernous shelter is big enough to hold 30,000 people in addition to the supplies they need to survive.

I have no idea whether this is true or not ------ frankly the 30K number seems a little dubious to me.

Might have to call shenanigans on that one.

Anyone out there know anything about this?

[MidtownCoog]

Don't forget the main Post Office.

My Dad works there, and they recently went down and dug around down there. They still have a ton of supplies like can openers, blankets, etc.

He said it was like a time warp.

[groovehouse]

Don't forget the main Post Office.

My Dad works there, and they recently went down and dug around down there.

I would love, love, love to see recent photos of this or any of our fallout shelters...

[usonia]

There is a fallout shelter in the tunnel between the old Harris County criminal and civil courts buildings. It runs under San Jacinto Street. You can see some neat old signs with arrows in the civil courts lobby.

[RedScare]

There is a fallout shelter in the tunnel between the old Harris County criminal and civil courts buildings. It runs under San Jacinto Street. You can see some neat old signs with arrows in the civil courts lobby.

I am in that tunnel all the time, including a couple of days ago. I've never noticed it, since I am usually pre-occupied with other things. I'll look closer next time I am down there. If the shelter is under the old Criminal Courts building, it probably got rehabbed as part of the Juvenile Court conversion. If it is under the old Civil Courts building, it's days may be numbered as well, since it will get a total redo next year.

Either way, I'll look for it and report back.

[Rusty_S]

When I was in highschool at Waltrip High School, I heard that there was a fall out shelter/bomb shelter under the football field. I dont know how true this is and I never got the chance to go through the "tunnel" that supposedly exsists. But if this does exsist It would be something to try and look at probably is well preserved.

[MidtownCoog]

So Fu Kim did have a sign.

But now tht Fu Kim is demolished, I can't see where it could have been.

Were these underground?

[plumber2]

I tore down the old Institute of Religion building a few years ago in the Medical Center. It had a Civil Defense Fall Out Shelter symbol on the door leading to the basement. I should have saved it.

[Alpha]

There's a fallout shelter under St. Michael Church on Sage Rd. I was only down there once about 20 years ago. They used it for storage then, but the civil defense signs were still there.

[NenaE]

Who needs a fall-out shelter anyway ? I still use the ol' "duck and cover" method. I have seen footage that you can actually use a picnic blanket to hide under, and TAH-DAH, it is a super shield !

We were taught in elementary school to get under the desk, lot of help that would have been.

[plumber2]

There's a fallout shelter under St. Michael Church on Sage Rd. I was only down there once about 20 years ago. They used it for storage then, but the civil defense signs were still there.

Yeah, I was in grade school at St. Michael's when the church was built sometime around 1965. We all went down there one time for a drill and then that was the end of it.

[Ross]

What about the one out near Tomball?

Didn't some rich mystery dude built one?

I think it's a data center now.

It's actually off of 105 in Montgomery County. I was in taht one when it was under construction. Pretty cool place - lots of room for several hundred people, including cells for unruly ones. It was built by a chinese millionaire, and was next door to the offices of his oil company. The entrances were in pagodas, and there was a very large pond above the shelter.

[Whitesman]

When I was in highschool at Waltrip High School, I heard that there was a fall out shelter/bomb shelter under the football field. I dont know how true this is and I never got the chance to go through the "tunnel" that supposedly exsists. But if this does exsist It would be something to try and look at probably is well preserved.

I knew of some older guys who went to Waltrip when I was in grade school in the "fall out drill" days. Can't recall if they ever said about a underground shelter. But I think if the drills in the high schools were as often as the grade schools they would have said they went to the underground shelter instead of crouching under a desk.

If by possibility there is one the door to the tunnel would be in the swimming pool area. I remember there were many old locked and chained doors in the pool area... unusual for that time in the late 60's.

[SunKing]

It's actually off of 105 in Montgomery County. I was in taht one when it was under construction. Pretty cool place - lots of room for several hundred people, including cells for unruly ones. It was built by a chinese millionaire, and was next door to the offices of his oil company. The entrances were in pagodas, and there was a very large pond above the shelter.

It is a VERY interesting place. Continental Airlines is currently using it as a disaster recovery site. If downtown Houston is wiped out, Continental can continue operations from Weslin. This place is amazing - the security is SUPER tight - it was built as a fallout shelter - and intended to support 100's of people for many months. It had sleeping quarters, doctors offices, and as someone else mentioned - even a jail. Another thing I found interesting were are all the gun turrets located throughout the complex - in those pagodas. Continental has 'reconfigured' the site to support our business recovery operations (installed servers, work stations, ect.). ...but no guns.

I have a ton of pictures - here's a few....