National Fallout Shelter Survey

Description

This exhibit was created with the Cuyahoga County Archives National Fallout Shelter Survey Collection. This collection features information dealing with the National Fallout Shelter Survey.  The 13 boxes contain correspondence between Civil Defense administrators, fallout shelter diagrams, blueprints, records, individual shelter booklets, and census tract information pertaining to the survey.

The National Fallout Shelter Survey was a program from 1948-1986.  During the Cold War, nuclear destruction was a threat that was a constant concern to the American people and administration alike.  Existing buildings and new construction were designated as fallout shelters.  These were reinforced structures with the capacity to provide some protection from the radioactive fallout that would occur after a nuclear exchange.  These facilities were surveyed, sketched, and blueprinted, and many different measurements were used to define each shelter's protection value, and the number of people each shelter could protect.

 This survey was done in two phases, Phase 1, which took place from 1948-1964, was the identification and preliminary survey of structures eligible for fallout shelter status.  Individual buildings were inspected and licensed as facilities for fallout shelters.  Phase 2, from 1963-68, consisted of a more detailed survey of the structure, and attention to supply issues, such as potable water on hand, ventilation, and sewer capacity. An updating survey of these shelters was performed in the 1970s, and for a final time in the 1980s. With the end of the Cold War, these facilities were no longer necessary.

Credits

Sections

Introduction to Fallout Shelters

Phase 1

The earliest phases of the survey primarily consisted of finding structures that would make good shelters. These were listed and surveyed. This took place between 1948 and the late1950s.

 

Phase 2

The second phase of the project was a more in-depth survey of each facility, blueprinting a footprint of the shelter, more observation of protective features, and recording things like amount of potable water available.

Fallout shelters during the 1970s

Constant updating was necessary to keep the list of shelters current. With the population of Cuyahoga County moving from a centralized area in Cleveland to the inner and outer ring suburbs, more shelters were needed in these areas.

Final updating during the 1980s

A final survey of all of the fallout shelters in the county was done from 1984-1986.  This was part of the defense buildup of the Reagan administration.  Updated shelter books were listed along with new and additional shelters that were built over the previous years.  Some facilities were deleted from the fallout shelter list because either the building containing the shelter had been razed or the shelter itself had become unusable.

End of the Cold War

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